Though John Donald runs a successful business selling robotic falcons around the globe, he is still stunned that he became a target of cyber-crime amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The tech-accomplished grandfather mentioned that when his family business experienced a 95% decrease in revenue, it was then that scammers focused on him.
The elderly man, who was 72 years of age, was extremely doubtful, yet ultimately he agreed to their proposal and moved close to £100,000 to a fraudulent bank account.
He informed the BBC Scotland, revealing that, “At the conclusion of this whole ordeal, when my spouse entered the room, she believed I was having a mental breakdown.
It was immensely nerve-wracking. I wouldn't want anyone to experience it.
Police Scotland has announced that the number of fraud cases recorded in 2019 has risen by 68% since 2018, with a total of 17,000 cases - the majority of which were conducted over the internet.
Donald's enterprise, Robop, has moved to Arisaig and is specialized in manufacturing robotic peregrine falcons for the purpose of eliminating bird pests.
Covid had a significant impact on the firm, which had been selling its products in 17 countries.
At 4:30 on a Friday afternoon in December 2020, Mr Donald was concerned about the company's future as he received a phone call.
This started one of the most unpleasant experiences of his life.
Uttering in a distinguished Edinburgh dialect, the caller announced that they were members of a collaborative banking task force and had identified fraud in his account.
Mr Donald commented that the manner in which it had been carried out was particularly impressive given the amount of strain he was enduring.
He had an intuition that something was amiss.
However, when Donald posed queries, it became apparent that the person on the other line was well-informed about him and his work. Donald thought the responses sounded reasonable.
He attempted to phone his bank through a different device, yet he was unable to connect.
The caller increased the pressure.
Mr Donald noted that they had a limited time period in which to fix the issue because there was a discrepancy between what they observed on their system versus what was seen on the other. He further stated that it was necessary to conclude the task promptly.
They requested that I move funds from one account belonging to me to another one in my name."
It took an hour for this to be completed.
Afterwards, I was filled with tremendous embarrassment, yet at that moment, it seemed the only viable choice.
A connection was made by a friend of Mr Donald's to the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland; after a period of six weeks, Mr Donald received his money back from his bank.
Jude McCorry, the Chief Executive of the centre, mentioned that not everyone had been as privileged.
She additionally declared: "We've observed a recent case of fraud where £700,000 was mistakenly sent to the wrong account in a property transaction.
This pertained to an individual rather than a corporation. It was a massive inquiry and it is ongoing."
Rather than continually responding to these offenses, we should contemplate how to keep them from occurring.
Senior officers at Police Scotland think cyber-crime is badly under-reported and that the most recent statistics are merely the beginning.
The detection rate for fraud has plummeted in the last few years, now standing at approximately 16% of cases, making it an immense challenge.
Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn cautioned that criminal organizations operating in Scotland are becoming more active.”
He declared that in the last year there had been a rise in serious and organised criminal groups aiming to take advantage of the Scottish public by means of cybercrime and fraud. He further informed that steps were being taken to combat these gangs. "
We are not going to solve this problem through arrests alone. There is a serious issue in Scotland.”
We have had success in collaborating with banking and financial partners to identify people and recover funds.
However, we are also striving to reinforce our avoidance messages, ensuring that individuals understand how they can safeguard themselves by not revealing any personal information, ensuring their systems are equipped with the latest software and notifying us of any dubious activity.
Police Scotland is allocating an additional £4.3m towards its cyber-crime strategy, which will be utilised to purchase new resources and offer training to its operational officers.
The force has developed a set of guidelines to guarantee that their utilization of novel technology is conducted ethically.
Mr Donald stated that the general population ought to be aware of the advanced nature of cyber frauds. At least if you're going to be a victim you can quickly report it to them and get a refund."
He suggested: "It's a good idea to save your bank's fraud line to your cellular phone's speed dial. That way, if you do become a victim, you can call the bank right away and hopefully they'll issue you a refund."
For the bank, it is necessary to respond when people call the listed numbers.
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