Loose Women star Denise Welch has issued a stern warning after losing thousands in a bank scam.
The ITV star is urging the public to keep their wits about them after she was conned by a scammer posing as the Barclays fraud squad, resulting in her losing £2,000.
Believing the phone to be legit, Denise is now keen to raise awareness, reminding people of the dangers of handing over personal details to people they do not know.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, the daytime presenter, 66, told Ranvir Singh and Ed Balls: ‘In my opinion, do not give your information to anybody unless you can somehow be 100% sure.
‘Ring them back. Anybody that’s calling you, even though you may have spoken to that person before, say, “Do you know something? You’ve called me”.’
Recounting the incident, Denise explained that she was busy at the time rehearsing for a show, which made her panic.
‘It was a few years ago, it was pre-pandemic, and I was rehearsing a show, Calendar Girls: The Musical. We weren’t supposed to look at our phones or take personal phone calls. We all have a sneaky look. And there was Barclays.
‘I went out, took the phone call and they said, it’s the fraud squad. They said there was some fraudulent activity going on with your card, and we want to put a stop to it.’
Denise added that she ‘had absolutely zero doubt that [she] was talking to the fraud department from [her] bank because it had come up under the headline of Barclays that [she] had put into [her] phone.’
The Tynemouth-born actress didn’t realise that she was being conned until the fifth phone call.
‘I was talking to this chap called Michael. I remember him, he was obviously very personable. And I went through over a series of about four phone calls, all of the information you are duly expected to give.
‘It was my full name, my date of birth, my address and postcode and my mother’s maiden name – again, didn’t hesitate because it said Barclays.
‘So over about four phone calls, Michael had become my best friend.’
‘Michael’ told Denise that the process was taking a long time because the fraud was ‘going to be bigger than they thought.’
‘This is where anybody watching this will be shouting, “Well, that’s on you. How stupid of you”,’ Denise acknowledged.
‘They then said, on about the fifth phone call, “We’re going to have to ask for your four-digit pin”.’
Denise is well aware that ‘you don’t give your pin away’ but, because she believed she was talking to someone from the fraud department, she did.
The next day, she told her husband, Lincoln Townley, and he ‘went absolutely spare.’
She revealed: ‘They had cloned my credit card and by the time we had discovered it, they had taken over £2k from my account.
‘If I had been sat at home and this was happening, it may have not happened but because I was at work, I just wanted it sorting.’
Denise admitted that she ‘felt ridiculous’ about what happened.
It comes after Denise’s family life hit the headlines when her son, Matty Healy, got engaged.
The 1975 star is set to marry model Gabbriette Bechtel after a whirlwind romance.
Her future mother-in-law, who first met Gabbriette five months after Matty started dating her, expressed her joy after the news was made public.
Denise shared: ‘We couldn’t be happier. She is everything I would want in a daughter-in-law.’
She added to her Loose Women co-stars: ‘I have known for a few weeks that Matty got engaged.
‘They went over to see their friends Charli (musician Charli XCX) and George (The 1975 drummer and Charli’s girlfriend George Daniel) in New York.’
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‘I woke up this morning to the fact they’ve put it on Instagram. Instagram official, he has got engaged to Gabbriette.
‘She is from Los Angeles, she is absolutely gorgeous.’
Denise added strangely: ‘She does have a rat.’
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Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 12:30pm.
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