Former Coronation Street actor Adam Rickitt warns of scam that cost him £50,000
Adam Rickitt spoke to Lucy Meacock
Former Coronation Street actor Adam Rickitt has spoken out after a convincing bank scam conned him out of nearly £50,000.
Adam outlined how the scammers tried to drain his business account in just three hours.
The scammers were able to mimic the number of Barclays fraud department.
They said someone was trying to withdraw money from their account using Adam's passport, driving licence and signature.
He says he was told to make a dummy payment to 'trigger the banks fraud systems' and was told no money would leave the account as it had been taken offline.
GMB's Katy Rickitt reports on how her husband was scammed
The number matched the Barclays fraud helpline, the LinkedIn profile of the person he was talking to also matched.
Adam said: "It was purely by chance I was able to spot the money had left our account and it wasn't Barclays I was speaking to.
"They knew too much about my bank account to not be Barclays. They knew how much was in there to the nearest penny and every cash withdrawal we had made at an ATM.
"If someone rings you. Hang up the phone and call the fraud department yourself. The second you engage with them, you will lose."
Adam says the scam is particularly clever as fraudsters can spoof the banks phone number to appear like the real one.
When you ring them back, it will go through the fraudsters and not the real hotline, he told ITV Granada.
To avoid this, he advised to ring the number on the back of your bank card on a different phone.
Adam got his money back as a victim of authorised push payment (APP) fraud.
Most major banks have a scheme called the contingency reimbursement model. This will determine whether you could get your money back if scammed in this way.
The bank will judge whether the customer has been 'grossly negligent'. Statistics show only 42% of people get their money back through this scheme.
The financial ombudsman has a greater chance of success of help - but it is not guaranteed.
Adam and Katy hope their experience can help raise awareness against authorised push payment scams.