Pensioner has bank card stolen in Romford car park scam

An elderly man was tricked by scamsters who stole his debit card at a car park.

Police received a report about the incident on June 21, who confirmed that a card was stolen at North Street in Romford and used to withdraw money before it was blocked.

Glen Haywood, a bus driver who was returning from work at the time, said he found the pensioner in a state of shock at the Matalan car park.

He claimed to have stayed with the man while he called up the bank to block his card.

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Glen told the Recorder that the victim asked him for help after the incident.

The man told Glen he was asked to use another parking machine by a man who pretended to be from a company that operates the machine.

The man was told that the machine had broken down and he needed to use one in Park Drive, Glen said.

He added that at the site of the other machine, the elderly man was told by the scamster’s accomplice that this machine was also not working.

The accomplice, he said, had fitted a machine to take the elderly man’s card when he used it for payment and fled with it – even claiming to call an engineer for help.

Glen said that the victim was in his 80s, but police said he was in his 70s.

He believes they stole £350-400 from the man, but police did not confirm this.

Glen shared what happened in a Facebook community group, adding: “I shared the details on social media so people can be aware of a scam like this happening, especially with elderly and vulnerable people.”