Scots woman taken for £99,000 in ‘boiler room’ scam

Police are investigating the incident which took place in the town of Oldmeldrum earlier this month.

A “boiler room” fraud is where fraudsters posing as stockbrokers convince people to buy worthless shares.

Boiler room scammers typically target people who have previously purchased shares, as their names will be on shared registers.

City watchdog the Financial Services Authority provides a list of known frauds and also a list of authorised UK stockbrokers on its website, at www.fsa.gov.uk

Detective Inspector Iain McPhail, of Police Scotland’s economic crime unit, reiterated the importance of carrying out simple checks on the legitimacy of a product or service before giving out any financial details.

He said: “Sadly financial crime is an area which is often under-reported, mainly because the victims feel humiliated they were conned out of sums of money and they quite often do not confide in other family members as they don’t want people to know.

“I would urge the public to be cyber-savvy, and if using the internet, to be wary of clicking on links that are e-mailed or appear in popup boxes at random and to keep their virus software up to date on their computers. If in doubt do not click on any links.

“Do not be bullied or pressured into buying anything over the telephone. If you are feeling uncomfortable just hang up. Do not be attracted by a promise to make quick and e asy money. If the offer is too good to be true, then it probably is.”