The High-pressure Tactics Used By Smooth-talking Conmen In Tenerife To Fleece Thousands Of Elderly British Holidaymakers In Credit Card Scams Can Be Revealed Today
The high-pressure tactics used by smooth-talking conmen in Tenerife to fleece thousands of elderly British holidaymakers in credit card scams can be revealed today.
MailOnline witnessed gangs of suspected fraudsters deliberately targeting older Britons while ignoring younger tourists on a promenade on the south of the island.
Scores of British pensioners have fallen victim to the fraud which typically involves them being offered a laptop, , phone or a similar device for an attractive price.
The scam takes place when fraudsters working in souvenir shops use intimidating tactics to get their victims into the shop.
Once inside, they typically offer the vulnerable elderly tourist a device for a cut price.
They ask to take a deposit of say 30 Euros to be taken on a debit or credit card - but when the customer inserts their card the unscrupulous store staff clone the card or steal their bank details.
MailOnline witnessed gangs of suspected fraudsters deliberately targeting older Britons while ignoring younger tourists.
Pictured is a suspected scammer (right) approaching a couple in Tenerife
Scammers use high-pressure tactics in Tenerife to fleece thousands of elderly British holidaymakers in credit card scams.
If you liked this report and EvDEN EVe nAkLiyAT you would like to obtain much more info concerning EvDEN Eve naKliyat kindly stop by the page. Pictured is one of the suspected conmen, centre
Scores of British pensioners have fallen victim to the fraud which typically involves them being offered a laptop, iPad, phone or a similar device for an attractive price.
Many are approached along this bustling promenade at the popular holiday getaway
Often they ask the holidaymaker to return to pay the balance - and eVdEN EvE nAKliyat 'accidentally type in a far higher amount before asking the tourist to type in their pin without offering a receipt to confirm the purchase price.
Other versions of the fraud involve the scammers stealing PIN numbers or EvDen evE NAKliyaT later charging a far higher fee than agreed using bogus bank debit forms.
Bridget Manning was told that for just £150 she could get her hands on a ‘top-of-the-range' tablet computer.
Instead she was fleeced for £2,128
Pensioners are often targeted on the last day of their holiday and typically only find out they have been conned weeks later when they check their bank or credit card statements.
, 84, was offered a 'top of the range tablet' for £150 but found her two bank accounts had been emptied of £2,128 after she returned home to Warwickshire.
Retired police superintendent Ged Varley, 76, volunteered to pose as a potential victim so MailOnline could secretly film suspected conmen putting him under 'intense pressure' to hand over his credit card details.
He said: 'They might as well have sat me down and put a spotlight in my face.
It was an onslaught. They were so determined.
'But with my police background as a detective I can smell a scam a mile away and I wasn't giving in.'
The former Lancashire Police detective from Rochdale was approached as he and his wife Sue, 79, rode their mobility scooter on Tenerife's Playa de las Americas.
Retired police superintendent Ged Varley, 76, volunteered to pose as a potential victim so MailOnline could carry out its investigation into the scam
The former Lancashire Police detective from Rochdale was approached as he and his wife Sue, 79, rode their mobility scooter on Tenerife's Playa de las Americas
The retired police officer posed as a potential victim so MailOnline could secretly film suspected conmen putting him under 'intense pressure' to hand over his credit card details.
Ged said the suspected conmen were relentless.
Speaking of them, he added: 'They might as well have sat me down and put a spotlight in my face. It was an onslaught. They were so determined.' He is pictured, centre, with his wife, left, while being secretly filmed talking to one of the suspected scammers, right
'I knew straightaway that it was a scam, but I thought I'd go along with it and see how it operated.
I went inside and he showed me a tablet and took me through how it worked and whatever.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-417a1470-e018-11ed-864d-6de8020793dd" website shop 'scammers' filmed trying to con UK tourists in Tenerife
