Fraud victim Catriona Oliphant is one of the lucky ones. Through steely determination – and help from The Mail on Sunday – she recently managed to get her bank to reimburse £239,000 scammed from her account.
But Catriona, a highly-regarded lawyer, was not content. Outraged by the complacency shown by Action Fraud – a national hub for reporting fraud – over investigating her case she vowed to take matters into her own hands. Last week, she decided to track down the scammers with The Mail on Sunday alongside her.
Although Catriona was thwarted at the last moment by a desperate plea from Action Fraud not to interfere in an ongoing investigation – a request we felt we could not ignore – the ease with which we tracked down those involved in the scam raises serious questions over Action Fraud s willingness and ability to tackle the rising tide of financial crime.
JEFF PRESTRIDGE: More than a thousand people are being scammed every day. Victims are old and young and come from all walks of life - doctors, dentists, lawyers, shop workers and teachers.
Why can t Action Fraud identify those involved in scams? dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.