Irish actor and singer Niall McNamee has opened up after €25,000 was taken from his bank account after a thief stole his phone in London.
Niall, who is dating singer Imelda May told the BBC how he was scrolling through his phone on the London Underground when a thief on the platform snatched it from his hand just as the doors closed.
While Niall, alerted the police as soon as he could, he failed to contact his bank to freeze his cards.
It wasn’t until two days later that the actor noticed that around £21,000 (roughly €25,000) had been stolen from his bank accounts.
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If that wasn’t enough, the thief also took out a £7,000 loan in his name.
“They took everything. My online banking was showing zero… zero… zero,” he told BBC.
“I’ve no idea how they’d got into either of my accounts. It’s face ID and password protected.
“They managed to take out a loan, which is a laugh because I’ve been trying to get a loan for years and I’m not eligible for one – somehow they managed to.”
Niall also noted how they went on a spending spree in Apple before admitting he was in “panic stations” for two days.
“It’s one of those moments where you just in one second feel a bucket of sweat come out of your head and you go red,” he added.
“It used to be people stole a phone so they could sell on a phone. Now it seems they are stealing phones so they can get into all of your data and take money.”
While scams unfortunately happen all year round, they can increase during Christmas time so stay vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour.
