'Phishing' scam cost London woman nearly £50,000

A woman has told the Victoria Derbyshire programme how she was conned out of her life savings by scammers who sent her a 'phishing' email.

59-year-old Vivian Gabb, a pilates and tennis coach from London, was in the final stages of buying a house when the scammers struck.

She was unaware that her email had been hacked and every email she wrote and received was being monitored by criminals.

They sent her a message disguised as a follow-up email from her solicitor, asking for nearly £50,000 to be paid into their account.

The internet safety advice website Get Safe Online says more than half (51%) of people in the UK have been a victim of an online crime, and 15% of people have been victims of either attempted or successful hacks of their email account.

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