Yahoo News Helen Skelton scammed out of £70,000 savings in phone con
TV presenter Helen Skelton has revealed she lost her entire life savings of £70,000 in a phone scam.
The presenter’s nest egg was swiped after she answered a hoax call that she thought was from her bank.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, Skelton said she was busy looking after her two young children when she got the rogue call.
She answered “just a few questions” and the next thing she knew, her savings had vanished.
“I got phoned up by the bank, told something dodgy had gone on with my account, and a week later £70,000 - all my savings - had gone,” the former Blue Peter star told host Lorraine Kelly.
Kelly looked stunned, gasping: “'£70,000? Jesus...”
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Skelton, 36, told her: “All gone.
“And it was just a few questions over the phone.”
Shelton said she is now making an ITV programme about such scams to help people protect themselves.
She said: “It happens every day of the week, to all members…
“We are not talking about little old ladies who are victims who don’t understand the internet.
“That is a massively naïve assumption.
“It is happening to people and they are too embarrassed to say that it has happened.”
The TV star – who is mum to sons Ernie, four, and Louis, two, with her husband Richie Myler – said her upcoming show “is hopefully going to help people be aware, be on guard and avoid that”.
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Skelton found fame on Blue Peter from 2008 and 2013 and has gone on to appear on programmes such as Countryfile, The Instant Gardener and Holiday Hit Squad.
She is also known for her coverage of sports such as swimming and women’s football.
