A VICTIM of a Royal Mail text message scam says he wants to warn others after losing more than £3,000.

Businessman Steve Friend, who lives in Colchester, first received a text from what he thought was Royal Mail in February stating he needed to pay an amount for a delivery.

One week later he received a phone call from a woman called Monica, who he believed was part of the Lloyds bank fraud squad.

He was told there had been some unusual activity on his account.

The following month he received another phone call asking if he had been in Portsmouth and setting up direct debits.

Mr Friend, who owns Lexden Builders Limited, said: "I again replied no and at this point they said I was a victim of being scammed and it would be a lengthy process but they now needed to change my passwords and account.

"I was taken back and a bit shocked. The lady was really professional and apologetic and this went on for about four hours.

"During all of this money from my accounts was getting shifted under her guidance and instruction and anything popping up on the screen she was instructing and authorising.

"At one point I asked when will this money go into my visual account. She kept advising all was fine Lloyds were linked to these banks especially the Halifax as they part of each other."

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The following day Mr Friend was locked out of his account but after receiving assurances from Monica continued moving money on her instruction.

Soon afterwards, however, he was shocked to find out Monica was not a member of the Lloyds fraud squad at all, but a scammer.

He immediately raised a complaint and within 15 days he had received two payments back from Nationwide and Halifax, however has lost out on £3,500 which Lloyds say they can't recover.

Mr Friend said: "I received a letter to say the £3,500 would not be refunded and they could not stop the transaction in time and I had lost all the money.

"I have banked with Lloyds for 36 years and am gob smacked and devastated. I am a victim of a scam."

Steve is sharing his story in the hopes of warning others.

He has hit out at Lloyds for their handling of his case and is pursuing a case with the Ombudsman.

A spokesman for Lloyds said: "Helping to keep our customers’ money safe is our priority and while we expect customers to take reasonable care when making payments, Mr Friend did not follow the warnings which were presented on his online banking when he made the payments out to Nationwide and Barclays accounts.

“We contacted the receiving bank immediately when the scam was reported and we were able to recover £3,238 of the money Mr Friend had transferred to the fraudsters."

“It’s important to treat every email, message or call that you’re not expecting with caution, avoid clicking on inks asking for your bank details and pay close attention to any warnings when banking online.

"Your bank or a genuine company will never ask you to move money to a different account and if anyone does, it’s definitely a scam no matter how genuine it may appear.”