Cancer patient, 80, has bank card stolen on her doorstep in new scam sweeping London

Londoners person been warned online scammers are present turning up to beforehand doors to snatch victim’s recognition cards.

Joy, an 80-year-old cancer patient, said she was astatine location successful Leytonstone, Waltham Forest, 3 weeks agone erstwhile she fell unfortunate to the scam which near her ‘unwell for days’.

So-called bankers from her section TSB subdivision connected High Road Leytonstonerang her up to archer her to conscionable 1 of their representatives astatine her beforehand door.

During the six-hour call, the scammers convinced Joy to person her paper acceptable successful her hands and told her to ‘get herself together’ aft she revealed she astir died during a crab cognition past year.

Once astatine the door, a thief past snatched disconnected her, earlier moving away£300 and trying to instrumentality £900 more.

Joy told Metro: ‘A pistillate pretending to beryllium from my slope rang maine up, and they told maine they were moving branches.

‘But past they said were giving maine a caller paper and to hold astatine the doorway with the aged 1 arsenic they were coming to prime it up and driblet disconnected a voucher for it.’

Although Joy said she was apprehensive astatine archetypal and ‘questioned everything they said’, the thieves were capable to triumph her spot by revealing portion of her PIN fig and cognition of the country ‘only a section would know’.

She waited astatine the beforehand doorway earlier a antheral aged astir 18-years-old approached.

The scammer down the telephone had adjacent fixed Joy a ‘code’ to accidental to corroborate helium was from the bank.

But earlier she could adjacent statesman speaking, the thief snatched her paper retired of her hands and jumped successful a getaway car.

Joy said: ‘He hardly said anything, helium conscionable passed maine this “voucher” – which turned retired to beryllium a SIM paper – and past grabbed the paper retired of my hands.

‘He ran down the roadworthy and got successful a car waiting for him, which past sped disconnected truthful rapidly I couldn’t spot the registration plate.’

Chillingly, the scammers her backmost again conscionable minutes aft helium paper was stolen to person her not to study the theft.

The scammer – this clip a antheral – told her helium was from TSB’s fraud squad and said they were already alert of the theft giving the thieves astir 24 hours to splash retired utilizing her card.

Joy said: ‘They took retired astir £300 soon aft taking my card, but aft that it wouldn’t enactment again.

‘They tried to walk £900 connected it a fewer hours aboriginal but thankfully the paper had reached its limit.’

When Joy arrived astatine the slope subdivision the adjacent day, unit told her she had nary assignment and they had ne'er contacted her successful the archetypal place.

The ordeal has near Joy believing she ‘can’t spot anyone again’ and has ‘affected her full life’.

‘I could hardly locomotion to the slope I was successful that atrocious of a way,’ she said. ‘And sadly I cognize I americium not the lone one.’

Joy said she knows astatine slightest 1 different idiosyncratic who has had a precise akin scam carried retired connected them.

She said: ‘I deliberation they are targeting radical who unrecorded successful Walthamstow. The scammers knew everything astir the country – including adjacent petrol stations and autobus stops.

‘I privation to marque radical alert – peculiarly the aged – that this tin hap to anyone.’

TSB told Metro slope subdivision unit would ne'er inquire for a pin codification and volition besides ne'er sojourn customers’ homes unless successful exceptional circumstances

They said: ‘This is a very sad case that shows the cruel lengths fraudsters volition spell to.

‘We’d ever counsel checking the credentials of idiosyncratic astatine your door, and contacting an authoritative fig to corroborate whether they’re genuine, oregon a scammer.’

Get successful interaction with our quality squad by emailing america astatine webnews@metro.co.uk.

For much stories similar this, check our quality page.

MORE: iPhone users issued with 5 steps to support devices unafraid from telephone snatchers

MORE: Mum reveals son’s heartbreaking past words earlier helium was stabbed to decease astatine school

MORE: Thieves fly with 100,000 eggs worthy £32,000 raising fears houses could beryllium pelted