76-year-old describes becoming victim of evil conmen

A distressed 76-year-old man has described how he became the victim of evil conmen.

The grandfather-of-five said his wife took a call on Saturday from a man claiming to be 'Police Constable Peter Wicklow', warning him to cancel his card as someone had been trying to withdraw £700 from a cash machine in Tottenham Court Road.

The victim, who did not want to be identified, was asked to ring the number at the top of his debit card, which he did. But the criminals had left the line open at the other end, so whatever number he dialled he would just get straight back through to them.

He was told to cut his debit cards in two, put them in an envelope and deliver them to a courier who arrived and took the cards.

The gang subsequently used the cards to buy £10,000 worth of items.

This week the man, who has lived in Windsor for 40 years, said: "This will put me in overdraft. I was hoodwinked and I'm so angry with myself. They just had it so off pat.

"We went to my son's house to babysit our granddaughters and when I told him what had happened he went ballistic and told me to ring the bank immediately. But it was too late."

Superintendent Kate Ford, LPA commander for Windsor and Maidenhead, had advice for anyone who received a similar call. She said: "If you receive such a call, hang up before contacting the police and your bank.

"Never hand your card over to a third party in this way. This crime type is not peculiar to the Royal Borough as it is occurring nationally."

Contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 with information.