Owner of Spalding’s Pacey’s Bakery put impression fraud warning after £16,000 stolen

A businessman who had £16,000 stolen from his bank account by a scammer is speaking out to raise awareness of ‘impression fraud’.

George Tear (45), who owns Pacey’s in Spalding, wants people to be on their guard after being conned by a credible fraudster on Monday night. The person not only had details of his previous transactions but also had hijacked a TSB telephone number which had been saved in his phone.

Fraud is becoming a costly problem in this country with £43.5million being in the first six months of 2023 from almost 6,000 cases.

The man was so credible that Mr Tear did not realise that there was a problem until later that night when he discovered that £16,000 had been taken from his business bank account.

Now he is hoping by speaking out that he could help prevent another person falling victim to the fraudsters.

Mr Tear said: “I hadn’t heard of impression fraud and if it can happen to me, and I would say I’m fairly switched on, it can happen to anyone.

“I want to raise awareness of this so local people know this can happen. I can understand how older people can get taken in.

“It did seem completely believable to me - if I thought he was a scammer I wouldn’t have done it.”

The problems started after Mr Tear had been contacted by a number which was saved in his phone as ‘TSB banking’ at about 5pm on Monday.

The caller claiming to be from TSB said there had been fraud activity registered on the Red Lion Street bakery’s account.

Mr Tear said: “He told me about my transactions in Norfolk. He said there was one from East Kildare.

“He told me my card number. All kind of stuff that seemed believable. He asked the right questions and questions about what was in my bank account.

“He sent messages which were from the TSB and followed on from previous text messages.

“I trusted him as he seemed credible. I got a text message to say ‘this is what I am doing’ and everything about it seemed exactly right. It didn’t feel like fraud.”

Mr Tear realised there was a problem when he checked his bank account later that night and discovered that the balance was less than £20.

He contacted the bank’s actual fraud team – who, after some detective work, were able to reclaim the

money that had been taken.

Mr Tear said: “The good thing is that the money has been returned.”

A TSB spokesman said: “We are pleased to have restored Mr Tear’s bank balance under our Fraud Refund Guarantee – ensuring he is not left out of pocket by this cruel scam. Sadly, fraudsters ruthlessly target the public with bank impersonation cold-call scams.

“If you’re ever contacted out of the blue by someone claiming to be your bank then hang up and dial 159 – as this dedicated anti-fraud service will confirm whether it’s a genuine call, or a scam.

“Your finances could depend on it.”