North Staffordshire estate agent intercepts scam and protects client’s life savings

A quick-thinking Newcastle-under-Lyme estate agent recently intercepted a client's scam call, protecting their life savings.
During a routine property visit, Stephenson Browne estate agent, Lydia Riley, noticed her client appeared distressed while on the phone.
Upon checking if he was alright, the 24-year-old quickly realised he was in the middle of a scam call.
The caller, pretending to be from Amazon, had instructed him to download apps that gave remote access to his phone.
By the time Lydia intervened, the scammers had already taken control of the device.

Each time the vendor attempted to hang up, the scammers responded with threatening language and prevented the call from ending, creating a highly intimidating situation.
Lydia acted quickly, taking the phone from the client and placing it in another room to remove him from the immediate pressure.
She then used her own phone to contact the fraud team at the client's bank and successfully secured the account.
Her prompt actions prevented the scammers from accessing her client's bank account, which held his life savings.
This incident is a reminder of how aggressive and convincing scam operations can be, with Lydia's vigilance and decisive response making a critical difference.
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