'I lost £50,000 due to mobile phone sim card scam'

Criminals are stealing thousands of pounds from people's bank accounts as part of a new mobile phone sim card scam.

Ian Finlay, from Maltby, near Yarm, Teesside, was on holiday in Australia when money started disappearing from his accounts.

Scammers took more than £50,000 after contacting his network pretending to be him and asking for a replacement sim card, which was sent to a London address, allowing them to take control of his phone.

"My devastation quickly turned to anger when I discovered what had happened," said Mr Finlay, whose banks later reimbursed him.

Mr Finlay told the BBC he could not believe how easy it was for fraudsters to gain access.

After the replacement sim card arrived, he said they took control of his mobile phone - without his knowledge - and were able to hack into his emails and access his bank accounts.

"They have never given me a reasonable explanation about how the scammers managed to get through the security clearance to access my accounts," he said.

Mr Finlay's banks reimbursed his money after accepting the transactions were fraudulent.

Fraudsters often use phishing emails or buy stolen data from the dark web to get people's personal information.

Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey, Labour, said he planned to appoint a fraud advocate to recover hundreds of thousands of pounds victims in the area have lost to scammers.

"It’s absolutely appalling," he said.

"Fraud like this can have a huge and devastating impact on people's lives. Sometimes they're putting a little bit of money aside and are left with nothing."

If you need information and support about scams and fraud, details can be found through BBC Action Line.

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