Gran issues warning after fraudster posed as Ukrainian child in twisted scam
A grandmother has issued a stern warning after falling prey to a heartless fraudster who posed as a Ukrainian child in a disturbing bank scam.
Ann Kelsey Walker, a resident of East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, initially believed she was communicating with an Air Transat Facebook page while attempting to claim a refund for a suitcase following her trip to Canada.
But her situation took a sinister turn when the supposed airline representative began asking Ann to verify her payment details, raising her suspicions that she was being targeted by a fraud scheme. The alert grandmother-of-two quickly worked out that the page was a fake, and confronted the scammer. But in a desperate attempt to manipulate her, the fraudster then claimed to be a Ukrainian child in dire need of assistance.
The scammer, who pretended to be an airline, told Ann that she qualified for two free flight vouchers (Daily Record)
But the gran began to have suspicions after the account asked her for personal details (Daily Record)Ann, 60, told the Daily Record: "The scam was very plausible at first. I had paid for an extra suitcase by accident and I was trying to get the money back, so I googled Air Transat and this profile came up." I received a message back saying I would get a refund and I was asked how I paid for my booking. Then I was asked to provide personal details and it didn't feel right. I then phoned Air Transat." Air Transat confirmed they have no affiliation with the Facebook page.
When Ann reprimanded the scammer, they resorted to begging for cash - before pretending to be a Ukrainian child. In a chilling message, the con artist told Ann: "Both my parents died in the Ukraine Russian war. I have young brothers and a sister I take care of. I am just 14 and these 2 sisters are twins. I buy them food, rent and pay their tuition. I started scamming after the deaths of both my parents. It is not my intention to do this but I need to. I don't intend to scam you. I'm really sorry."
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After being confronted, the scammer claimed to be a Ukrainian teen orphaned by the war (Daily Record)
He sent pictures of children who he said were his brothers and sisters - but these were taken from the internet (Daily Record)The scammer attempted to deceive Ann, a Motorola employee, by sending her photographs of alleged Ukrainian children he claimed were him and his siblings. He then asked for her bank details again in a ploy for cash.
However, Ann was quick to spot the scam. "Once he started asking for bank details I knew it was a scam," she said. She discovered that the pictures sent by the scammer were generic photographs of children from the internet. "He sent me a picture of these four kids, but when I googled the images they had obviously been taken off the internet - it's disgusting," she added.
Ann wants to alert others about such scams. "I just want to warn others about this. The Air Transat page had a logo and everything. Thankfully I phoned the airline and they let me know I was talking to a scammer," she shared.
A spokesperson for Air Transat expressed regret over the incident, saying: "We regret that some people have fallen victim to scam accounts posing as us on social media. We will never ask for personal or financial information on these platforms." They advised users to look for the Verified Icon next to their profile name to ensure they are engaging with the official account.
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI tool, which speeds up The Mirror's editorial research. An editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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