Oxfordshire man, 89, hands £70k in gold and cash to fraudsters

The victim, Lowell, said the fraudsters "sounded sincere"

An elderly man has been scammed out of nearly £70,000 after being allowed by his bank to withdraw hundreds of banknotes and purchase a gold bar.

The 89-year-old from Oxfordshire fell victim to fraudsters posing as police officers during two weeks in July.

His family had previously warned HSBC he was receiving suspicious calls and asked for his account to be monitored.

The bank refunded the money three months later after being asked questions about the case by the BBC.

HSBC acknowledged it had not fully checked the transactions

In a statement, HSBC said: "While questions were asked about the reasons for each transaction... more information could have been asked for which may have led to the nature of the scam coming to light sooner.

"Taking that into account, [the client] has been provided with a full refund."

The victim, Lowell, whose surname is being withheld by the BBC for his protection, was sent by the fraudsters to check whether bank staff were giving out counterfeit notes.

His niece Sarah said: "Lowell was asked to take £8,600 out of his account in 20s.

"He went to the bank, requested that, took the money out and then handed the money over."

Niece Sarah said her uncle had found the idea of helping police officers "exciting"

Lowell was then instructed to take a taxi to Slough to buy a £50,400 gold bar which he handed to two men wearing high-vis jackets.

Finally, he gave the courier fraudsters another £8,650.

He was urged by scammers not to share information about his task with anyone - family, friends or even bank staff for fear of jeopardising the so-called "investigation".

Over the space of two weeks in July, he lost a total of £67,650. The bank refunded the money on Monday.

Sarah said her uncle had been "bored" when he had been contacted by the bogus police officers and found the thought of helping them "exciting".

Lowell told the BBC: "They sounded sincere and I suppose in a way I was stupid... Too, too trusting altogether."

He has now moved banks, changed his phone number and created a new email address.

Thames Valley Police is investigating the so-called courier fraud.

HSBC added: "We want all our customers to be aware that, if you receive an unexpected phone call about money, there's a good chance it's a scam."

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