Labour MP’s bank account targeted by scammers three times in three weeks

Published

2 years ago

November 3, 2022

admin

A Labour MP has told Sky News she had her bank account targeted by scammers three times in three weeks.

Carolyn Harris, who represents Swansea East and is deputy leader of Welsh Labour, said she went through four debit cards in a month after the raft of fraudulent transactions.

And she is worried more vulnerable customers will not know when cash is being taken from their accounts, or have access to their money when their cards are cancelled, if they don’t use mobile banking apps.

Politics live: Albanian PM’s pointed message for home secretary on migration

The saga began on a Thursday in September when Ms Harris started receiving texts asking her to authorise payments, ranging from £300 to £1,500, which she continually declined.

“I phoned the bank that night and told them I thought someone was trying to scam me,” she said. “I waited quite a long time to speak to the fraud team, then I got cut off.”

Two days later when shopping in Swansea, the MP was alerted to a problem with her account again.

“I bought one thing with my card and it was fine, but when I went to the market to buy fruit and meat, my card got declined,” she said.

“So I went to the cash point to get money out and it got declined again.”

Ms Harris headed inside the bank to get advice, but after a long queue, she was told any queries had to go through the fraud team – meaning another 40 minute wait on the phone to speak to the department.

“The person wasn’t very nice if I am honest and only wanted one word answers,” she said.

“After a quite fraught conversation, they said I had been scammed, they cancelled my card and promised another would be delivered five days later, which it was.”

But the Labour politician was soon hit again by another scammer.

‘I was stuck in London without any money’

“I’d had my new card for three days and was sat in my flat in London on a Sunday night before heading into parliament the next morning,” said Ms Harris.

“I took a look at my account to see if money that had been taken before had been refunded and I saw more transactions.

“I was worried, I was stuck in London without any money as I only had my card, so couldn’t get anything.”

Another phone call and another cancelled card later, she was thankfully able to download her new card onto her phone so she could use it straight away, while the physical version would be sent to her home by the end of the week.

But her scamming experience wasn’t over yet.

“Roll on another two weeks and I am lying on a sun lounger on holiday in Portugal,” she said. “And there are even more transactions, this time all going to either Facebook or in foreign currencies.”

Back on the phone to the bank and it appeared the scammers had managed to set up standing orders from her account, meaning she wasn’t even notified of the amounts going out.

“That’s three weeks, three lots of scams, and four cards in a month,” she said. “And [the bank] had no idea at all how it happened, no-one seems to know.”

Ms Harris told the Home Affairs Committee that she called the police on her return to the UK, as not only had scammers targeted her, but they’d also targeted one of her staff members, which she thought was suspicious.

“They came to see me, but they can’t do anything at all,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, my local force are brilliant, but all these transactions were happening abroad and they aren’t able to sort this.”

For Ms Harris, it was a case of inconvenience, needing to get the new cards and update details for her subscriptions, like Netflix, Amazon and her car tax.

But she is concerned that not everyone would be in the same position.

“I had an app on my phone so I could check transactions and I was able to download a new card onto my phone too,” she said. “There is no way on God’s earth some pensioners would be able to do that.

“Even my husband doesn’t have an app on his phone and doesn’t check… and he doesn’t think that is abnormal.

“If it happened to my mother, she wouldn’t know until the bank statement came the next month or until her card got declined.

“And when I was on holiday, I asked if I could go into a branch with a passport and get money out and they said no. What would she have done?”

‘There has to be a better way’

The Labour MP said it made her worry even more about local high street branches closing down, adding: “Technology is a wonderful thing, but only if you are up to date with it.”

She said “there has to be a better way” for banks to stop fraud happening in the first place and making their customers aware if they aren’t online or using mobile banking.

“I remember booking three flights once and when I went online to book another two… my card got declined and I got a phone call, so the technology is there,” she said.

“Banks have to get better at telling people.”

Action Fraud has published advice on how to protect yourself and your account:

• Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial details without shredding it first
• Don’t leave things like bills lying around for others to look at
• Never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers to anyone who contacts you through an unsolicited call or email
• Ask any caller to give you a main switchboard number, or hang up and call your bank back on the legitimate phone number printed on your bank statements
• Check your statements carefully and reporting anything suspicious to the financial institution concerned.

World

US announces it will increase steps to limit revenue of Venezuelan president Maduro – as he begins third term

Published

3 hours ago

January 10, 2025

admin

US announces it will increase steps to limit revenue of Venezuelan president Maduro - as he begins third term

The US has announced it has increased its reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

In a statement on Friday, the US treasury said up to $25m is being offered for information leading to the arrest of Mr Maduro and his named interior minister Diosdado Cabello.

Up to $15m is also being offered for information on the incoming defence minister Vladimir Padrino. Further sanctions have also been introduced against the South American country’s state-owned oil company and airline.

The reward was announced as Mr Maduro was sworn in for a third successive term as the Venezuelan president, following a disputed election win last year.

Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council, said at the time Mr Maduro had secured 51% of the vote, beating his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez, who won 44%.

But while Venezuela’s electoral authority and top court declared him the winner, tallies confirming Mr Maduro’s win were never released. The country’s opposition also insists that ballot box level tallies show Mr Gonzalez won in a landslide.

Nationwide protests broke out over the dispute, with a brawl erupting in the capital Caracas when dozens of police in riot gear blocked the demonstrations and officers used tear gas to disperse them.

More than 2,000 demonstrators were arrested, and Mr Gonzalez fled to Spain to seek asylum in September.

While being sworn in at the national assembly, Mr Maduro said: “May this new presidential term be a period of peace, of prosperity, of equality and the new democracy.”

He also accused the opposition of attempting to turn the inauguration into a “world war,” adding: “I have not been made president by the government of the United States, nor by the pro-imperialist governments of Latin America.”

Lammy: Election ‘neither free nor fair’

The UK and EU have also introduced new sanctions against Venezuelan officials – including the president of Venezuela’s supreme court Caryslia Beatriz Rodriguez Rodriguez and the director of its criminal investigations department Asdrubal Jose Brito Hernandez.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Mr Maduro’s “claim to power is fraudulent” and that last year’s election “was neither free nor fair”.

“The UK will not stand by as Maduro continues to oppress, undermine democracy, and commit appalling human rights violations,” he added.

Mr Maduro and his government have always rejected international sanctions as illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.

Those targeted by the UK’s sanctions will face travel bans and asset freezes, preventing them from entering the country and holding funds or economic resources.

World

Donald Trump says he’s ‘totally innocent’ and thanks judge moments before no-penalty sentence in hush money case

Published

3 hours ago

January 10, 2025

admin

Donald Trump says he's 'totally innocent' and thanks judge moments before no-penalty sentence in hush money case

Donald Trump has been handed a no-penalty sentence following his conviction in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

The incoming US president has received an unconditional discharge – meaning he will not face jail time, probation or a fine.

Manhattan Judge Juan M Merchan could have jailed him for up to four years.

The sentencing in Manhattan comes just 10 days before the 78-year-old is due to be inaugurated as US president for a second time on 20 January.

Trump appeared at the hearing by video link and addressed the court before he was sentenced, telling the judge the case had been a “very terrible experience” for him.

He claimed it was handled inappropriately and by someone connected with his political opponents – referring to Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.

As it happened:
Trump sentenced in Manhattan court

Trump said: “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election.

“This has been a political witch hunt.

“I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong.”

Concluding his statement, he said: “I was treated very unfairly and I thank you very much.”

The judge then told the court it was up to him to “decide what is a just conclusion with a verdict of guilty”.

He said: “Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances.

“This has been a truly extraordinary case.”

He added that the “trial was a bit of a paradox” because “once the doors closed it was not unique”.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass had earlier argued in court that Trump “engaged in a campaign to undermine the rule of law” during the trial.

“He’s been unrelenting in his attacks against this court, prosecutors and their family,” Mr Steinglass said.

“His dangerous rhetoric and unconstitutional conduct has been a direct attack on the rule of law and he has publicly threatened to retaliate against the prosecutors.”

Mr Steinglass said this behaviour was “designed to have a chilling effect and to intimidate”.

It comes after the US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by Trump to delay sentencing in the case on Thursday.

Trump’s lawyers argued that evidence used during the trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.

Trump’s hush money conviction in May 2024 means he will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the US presidency.

He was found guilty in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels, an adult film actor, before he won the 2016 US election.

Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.

Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.

The trial made headlines around the world but the details of the case or Trump’s conviction didn’t deter American voters from picking him as president for a second time.

What is an unconditional discharge?

Under New York state law, an unconditional discharge is a sentence imposed “without imprisonment, fine or probation supervision”.

The sentence is handed down when a judge is “of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release”, according to the law.

It means Trump’s hush money case has been resolved without any punishment that could interfere with his return to the White House.

Unconditional discharges have been handed down in previous cases where, like Trump, people have been convicted of falsifying business records.

They have also been applied in relation to low-level offences such as speeding, trespassing and marijuana-related convictions.

World

Family of Leicester City chairman killed in football stadium helicopter crash sue manufacturer for £2bn

Published

3 hours ago

January 10, 2025

admin

Family of Leicester City chairman killed in football stadium helicopter crash sue manufacturer for £2bn

Leicester City’s owners have launched a landmark lawsuit against a helicopter manufacturer following the club chairman’s death in a crash in 2018.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s family are suing Italian company Leonardo SpA for £2.15bn after the 60-year-old chairman and four others were killed when their helicopter crashed just outside the King Power Stadium in October 2018.

The lawsuit is the largest fatal accident claim in English history, according to the family’s lawyers. They are asking for compensation for the loss of earnings and other damages, as a result of the billionaire’s death.

The legal action comes more than six years after the fatal crash and as an inquest into the death of the 60-year-old chairman and his fellow passengers is set to begin on Monday.

Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s son Khun Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who took over as the club’s chairman, said: “My family feels the loss of my father as much today as we ever have done.

“That my own children, and their cousins will never know their grandfather compounds our suffering… My father trusted Leonardo when he bought that helicopter but the conclusions of the report into his death show that his trust was fatally misplaced. I hold them wholly responsible for his death.”

The late Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s company, King Power, was earning more than £2.5bn in revenue per year, according to his family’s lawyers. The lawsuit claims “that success was driven by Khun Vichai’s vision, drive, relationships, entrepreneurism, ingenuity and reputation.”

“All of this was lost with his death,” it adds.

The fatal crash took place shortly after the helicopter took off from Leicester’s ground following a 1-1 draw against West Ham on 27 October 2018.

The aircraft landed on a concrete step and four of the five occupants survived the initial impact, but all subsequently died in the fuel fire that engulfed the helicopter within a minute.

The other victims were two of Mr Srivaddhanaprabha’s staff, Nursara Suknamai and Kaveporn Punpare, pilot Eric Swaffer and Mr Swaffer’s girlfriend Izabela Roza Lechowicz, a fellow pilot.

Investigators found the pilot’s pedals became disconnected from the tail rotor – resulting in the aircraft making a sharp right turn which was “impossible” to control, before the helicopter spun quickly, approximately five times.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch described this as “a catastrophic failure” and concluded the pilot was unable to prevent the crash.

The lawsuit alleges the crash was the result of ‘multiple failures’ in Leonardo’s design process. It also alleges that the manufacturer failed to warn customers or regulators about the risk.

Sky News has contacted helicopter manufacturer Leonardo for comment.