Coronation Street star’s warning after Barclays bank account scammed out of £50,000
An ex-Coronation Street actor who was duped out of £50,000 has issued a warning.
Adam Rickitt is well-known for playing Nick Tilsley on the enduring soap opera. The 44-year-old made an appearance on Good Morning Britain with his wife, Katy, a news correspondent.
They explained to presenters Ed Balls and Susanna Reid how they were duped by con artists posing as representatives of Barclays bank. Adam first received a text message from what appeared to be the bank alerting him to “strange activity” on his account, and then he got a call from what appeared to be the bank’s fraud department from an 0845 number.
Adams words “I did verify, and they were calling from the Barclays fraudline. I had no idea that you could ghost financial institutions, in my naiveté.”
In addition to being called from that number, he continued, “They will still answer if you hang up and ring the number again from the same phone.”
Authorized Push Payments are a type of fraud where con artists trick a payer into approving a payment to criminals. Adam stated the scammers pretended to be from Barclays since they warned him not to reveal account information and had detailed knowledge of recent bank activities.
“They basically documented the precise locations we have been and made cash withdrawals,” he claimed. Since then, Barclays has reimbursed the soap actor and begun an investigation into how his information was obtained.
To help others avoid falling for the same con, Katy said she wanted to share their tale. “So, if your bank calls you, hang up the phone and dial the number on the back of your card so you are absolutely certain you are connecting with your bank,” she advised. We discovered that the hard way.
