Police prevent Poole woman from losing £35k in scam

Fraudsters share details of known victims, police said

A woman in her 70s who has been repeatedly targeted by telephone fraudsters has been prevented by police from losing another £35,000.

Officers were called to the victim's home in Poole, Dorset, earlier after receiving reports of a possible scam.

They found she had transferred £20,000 on Tuesday and was in the process of wiring the rest of the money.

Police, who halted the transfers, said the woman had previously lost a "substantial" sum in 2018.

She also paid money in May to a fake stockbroker.

Police said her name and details were likely to be on a "scamming list", shared by fraudsters.

Fraud investigator Shane Cherrett said: "Thankfully we were able to intercept this recent fraud, stop the payments and refund the money back to the victim.

"Scammers will repeatedly target known victims and will constantly change their story to make it sound plausible."