Heartbroken grandad loses £250k in RBS scam as fraudsters pose as staff
A Scots grandfather was left in tears after cruel scammers posing as Royal Bank of Scotland staff stole £250k he'd saved for his family— now he's fighting to get it back.
A grandad has told how ruthless scammers posing as Royal Bank of Scotland staff stole £250k put aside for his family's inheritance.
Raymond Lumsden, 71, was devastated after falling victim to a sophisticated online scam. While he described the 'horrible' fraudsters as the principal villains, he has also hit out at RBS staff for failing to spot red flags before approving the transfer of money to the criminals' account.
The retired businessman from Edinburgh hoped to grow his savings for to leave to his loved ones, but instead says the fraud has left him traumatised and thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Raymond's nightmare began in January when he responded to a Facebook advert claiming to offer high returns on savings through Royal Bank of Scotland International (RBSI).
After filling in his details, he was contacted by someone claiming to be a bank employee and shown professional-looking documents, email addresses and even LinkedIn profiles that matched the names and photos of legitimate staff.
Raymond's nightmare began in January when he responded to a Facebook advert claiming to offer high returns on international bond investments through Royal Bank of Scotland International (RBSI).
He told the Record: 'I thought the offer looked brilliant. I definitely didn't think it was a scam. There was never a doubt in my mind I was dealing with a legitimate Royal Bank employee.'
Raymond then visited his local RBS branch in Corstorphine, Edinburgh, where staff approved his investment transaction with no questions asked - despite Raymond presenting emails that said he needed to send the money to a compliance solicitor's account at RBSI - rather than directly to the bank itself.
The fraudsters even gave Raymond access to a fake RBSI online portal where he believed he could track his investment. But weeks later, his world came crashing down when RBS's fraud team phoned him to say they suspected he had been scammed.
He continued: 'I didn't believe them at first You could have knocked me over with a feather.'
The pensioner is now angry that his bank failed to spot the warning signs, especially when he later discovered that his money had been transferred to a Halifax account - not an RBS one as he had believed.
He added: 'No one in the branch questioned if it might be a scam. They didn't do a single check."
RBS, which is owned by NatWest Group, has now refunded Raymond £207,000 - but refused to reimburse the remaining £43,000.
Raymond has since enlisted the help of National Fraud Helpline solicitors to recover the outstanding cash, who have launched a case with the Financial Ombudsman.
Lawyer Fiona Bresnen said: 'Raymond had checked with staff if this was the correct procedure and was reassured that it was fine. He even showed bank staff the email exchanges which mentioned the compliance solicitor but was told that it was okay to transfer the money. This should have raised immediate red flags."
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Raymond believes that if even the most basic checks had been carried out, he would not have lost any cash at all. He added: 'I've been with RBS for over 40 years. I trusted them."
Now he just wants to recover what's left of the money he had hoped would go to his grandchildren.
He said: "They've taken the kids' money and it would mean the world to get the rest of it back."
A Royal Bank of Scotland spokesperson said: 'While we can't comment on a case that is at the Ombudsman, if a customer is dissatisfied with their bank's decision, we would always advise them to speak to the Ombudsman themselves who will support with the claim including providing specialised knowledge for free."
Impersonation scams take place scammers pretend to be a person whose organisation you trust, in order to trick you in to giving them money or sensitive information.
Scammers can use artificial intelligence (AI) to make their scams more realistic. They can make fake videos of celebrities, phone calls from people you know or websites and emails that look official. Be extra cautions of any unexpected contact.
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