A SCAMMER fleeced £5,000 out of a woman by pretending to be a caller investigating 'suspicious activity in her bank'.

The victim who lives in Ascot received a call from someone claiming to be from the 'Fraud Department'.

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Fraudsters explained there was suspicious activity within her branch of the bank and sought her to help to find out who the culprit was.

She was convinced to part with her banking information and she provided them with details of how much money she had, including her life savings of £5,000.

They then asked her to transfer the money to a 'safe account' so they could monitor the transfer to see if the person at the bank interfered in any way with it.

Fraudsters then persuaded her to apply for a bank loan of £11,000 and explained how she can do this, talking her through each part of the online application.

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The online loan was immediately approved and £11,000 was credited to her account, which showed a zero balance.

The scammer took £10,000 and explained the £5,000 would cover the staff fees for the bank, investigating the supposed 'fraud'.

While the bank transfers were being completed, her granddaughter walked into her home and immediately knew it was a scam and phoned the police.

Police have said that the bank were extremely apologetic and immediately cancelled the £11,000 loan.

The victim won't know until 31 days time if she will get her £5,000 back.

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Police have warned residents that this is a "new type of scam" and is urging people to not be caught out.

A spokesman said: "The victim was persuaded that she was helping the Fraud Department at her bank.

"She says they were really convincing. When they found out how little she had in the bank, they were prepared with the online loan information and must have had a copy of the online form in front of them, as they took her through every part, telling her what to put in the boxes, most of which was completely fraudulent regarding work and income, in order to have the loan approved."