BOLTON hospice has narrowly avoided a “very sophisticated” fraud attempt.

The attempt to plunder the charity’s bank accounts was foiled by a combination of the alertness of staff and the hospice’s financial control structures.

Bolton Hospice said the attack was so well-planned that the scammers managed to use the charity’s bank’s phone number on its caller display.

The news comes after Bury Hospice this week announced it had fallen victim to a similar attack by cyber criminals, losing £235,000.

Chief executive of Bolton Hospice, Leigh Vallance, said: “Bolton Hospice was recently subjected to a very sophisticated fraud attempt that had it been successful would have led to the potential loss of a significant amount of money.

“Thanks to our robust internal financial control systems and the hyper vigilance of staff this attempted fraud failed.

“Even so the impact on my staff has been very distressing for them, knowing that this could so easily have been a very different story, given the sophisticated nature of this fraud, which cannot be over-stated and included a triangulated attack that involved contacting one of our major suppliers and having our bank’s telephone number on caller display.

“My heartfelt sympathy goes out to any charity that has been scammed in this way.”

Online crooks hacked into Bury Hospice’s accounts following an elaborate hoax involving an online virus check.

Bury Hospice chairman Prof Eileen Fairhurst said: “We are shocked and sickened that fraudsters would target hospices and other charities.

“It is beneath contempt when you think how this money was raised by hard-working volunteers and kind benefactors – and what it is needed for.”

The hospice in Rochdale Old Road, Bury, is now carrying out a full investigation and keeping in close contact with its bank.

And the charity said its own protection systems are now subject to extensive review.

The police and the Charity Commission have been informed about the attack on Bury Hospice.

Prof Fairhurst added: “There will be no immediate impact on the running of Bury Hospice and we will continue to provide an excellent service to those in the Bury community who need us.”

All avenues are now being explored to recover the money and the matter is being investigated by the police national fraud investigation team.