Fraudsters empty bank account

A YOUNG woman has fallen victim to an unusually organised and complex bank card scam.

Thieves pretended to be from the police and her bank so as to access and clean out her account.

La Provence newspaper reports that the woman, in Marseille, was initially contacted by someone saying they were calling from the police station for the city’s 8th arrondissement.

The caller told her that her purse had been found – and, checking, the woman found that she did not have it.

She was then advised to call a special number to cancel her cards – which she did. She said she spoke to a “very friendly, very professional operator” and gave details of her account.

The victim discovered the theft on the following day when she went to report her purse as stolen to the police station – who knew nothing about the call to her. She then made checks with her bank and discovered her account had been cleaned out.

The police warn that you should only cancel cards at your own bank or using the official interbank number for stopping cards (open 24 hours a day, seven days a week): 0892 705 705 (€0.34 per minute) 0033 442 605 303.