The veteran broadcaster Moira Stuart has revealed that she nearly fell victim to a sophisticated bank scam.
Stuart, 75, who spent 34 years with the BBC on TV and radio, told the Times newspaper she was saved from losing thousands of pounds by a vigilant bank cashier.
The Classic FM presenter said she thought she was immune to being ripped off because she was “very aware of scams” but was duped regardless.
She received a 9am phone call purporting to be from her bank. She was told that someone had removed money from her account in collusion with staff at her local branch. She was told to go to another branch to resolve the problem.
She said: “I had absolutely no idea I was being scammed. The fraudster stayed on the phone the whole time and told me it was an inside job at my bank they had uncovered.
“He told me to stay on my mobile so he could tell me what to say to bank staff at the new branch. He said, ‘We’re going to send this amount of money from your account and see what happens if they intercept it.’”
Stuart said she was still on the phone when she arrived at the bank counter and said it was the cashier who saved her.
“This gorgeous young man questioned what I was doing and said, ‘Can you wait a moment please, madam?’”
He took her to the side and told her it did not look right and she was put on to the bank’s anti-fraud team, which confirmed that it was a scam.
“I was absolutely devastated, embarrassed and angry with myself,” she told the Times. “If you’re very independent, as I am, it feels like you have let yourself down, your family, everyone who knows you. This feeling, this intrusion, it doesn’t leave you.”
According to data published by the banking body UK Finance, one of the most common types of fraud, authorised push payment, led to loses totalling £459.7m in 2023, and the total number of cases increased to 232,429 last year.
Stuart said her experience inspired her to work with AbilityNet, a charity supported by BT Group to encourage older people to learn new digital skills so they can stay safe online.