Islanders scammed out of millions of pounds

Over the past year, data shows £7.3m has been lost to fraud and cyber crime by people and organisations in the Channel Islands.

The data, from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), shows there have been 274 reports since February 2023.

Sixteen of those involved fraud relating to cheques, cards and online bank accounts.

Action Fraud collects the data and it is where islanders are often referred to by the police if the scam originated outside of the islands.

Recently there has been an influx of scams from fraudsters pretending to be members of staff from HSBC and trying to trick people out of money.

In Jersey, it has led to 68 people being defrauded out of a total of £2m in just four months.

It is unclear whether that number has been included in the data from the NFIB.

The Jersey Joint Financial Crimes Unit (JFCU) is reviewing the recent frauds, which happened between December last year and March this year.

Ollie Griggs, 26, a Jersey farmer, was one of those who fell victim to that scam and lost almost £10,000.

In February, Mr Griggs had a phone call from someone claiming to be from HSBC trying to save him from a scam, but instead managed to gather important account details.

He said: “It’s quite traumatic to think how hard I’ve worked for it.

“He [the scammer] led me to believe that he was a genuine HSBC employee that was trying to look after me, trying to protect me.”

Mr Griggs said he had yet to hear back from the bank after filing a complaint.

Deirdre Bates was at work when the scammer called

Deirdre Bates, 66, from Jersey, experienced a similar incident with someone claiming to be from HSBC in August and was scammed out of about £90,000.

Her money was sent to various places in the UK and as far afield as Dubai.

She said: “The stress has been unmeasurable. It’s affected myself, my husband, my family. It’s affected how I work.”

Mrs Bates said HSBC had recovered between £14,000 and £18,000, but it said it would not be able to recover anything else.

‘Be alert’

Guernsey businesses and residents have also fallen victim, but those the BBC spoke to did not want to go on the record.

There is a sense of shame for being caught out and for this reason some people are not willing to speak or report the scams – suggesting there is perhaps a wider problem than the figures show.

HSBC in the Channel Islands said “protecting customers from scams is a priority”.

“We want all our customers to be alert that, if you receive an unexpected phone call about money, there’s a good chance it’s a scam,” the bank said.

Guernsey Police said: “If you have fallen victim of a scam, contact your bank’s fraud team as soon as possible. You can also contact the national Action Fraud line.”

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