Gloria Hunniford reveals her Santander bank account was targeted by fraudsters BEFORE she fell victim to £120k scam
TV star's savings were recently stolen by scammer who walked into branch in Croydon pretending to be her
GLORIA Hunniford has revealed a £120,000 bank scam was not the first time fraudsters had targeted her account with Santander.
The 76-year-old presenter – who ironically hosts Rip Off Britain on BBC – revealed how scammers also targeted her account last year.
Gloria said: “Santander called me about a year ago to tell me someone had tried to open my account.
“We had to take measures to change account numbers.”
And she added that she now plans to use her show to highlight security gaps in banks in order to force a crackdown.
A court heard last week how a trio of criminals stole the presenter’s life savings after simply walking into a branch and pretending to be her, her daughter and her grandson.
The “doppelganger” duped Santander cashier Aysha Davis who “wouldn’t recognise” Hunniford because “she’s not of my time”.
The fake Hunniford, who is still on the run, arrived at the branch and told Ms Davis she had a “few bob” in her account.
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The fraudster added that she wanted to add her teenage grandson as a signatory because she had been ill.
Ms Davis then helped them complete the paperwork at the Croydon North End branch.
The cashier was initially accused of being part of the plot but was acquitted after less than 30 minutes of jury deliberation.
Police are still hunting for the “look-a-like” and her “daughter” while stand-in grandson Alan Dowie, 18, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence for his part in the scam.
Giving evidence, Ms Davis has told how she had to do a Google search to find out who Hunniford is.
She told jurors: “The name on the ID card was Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, and sorry to be stereotypical but this lady looked like a Mary.
“I had to Google Gloria Hunniford and even if I passed her on the street I wouldn’t recognise her because she’s not from my time.”
But the star slammed the bank’s security arrangements this week.
Speaking on ITV’s Loose Women, she said: “It’s easier for four strangers to go into the bank and get my money and get it all signed over to them and when I ring through I have to answer about eight or nine really obscure security questions.”
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