A PENSIONER said he has been conned out of his life-savings in a £36,000 banking scam.

Although just over £27,000 of that figure has been written off by Barclays bank father-of-two Sid Bennett, 71, has been told that despite being a victim of fraud he will not be receiving the remaining £9,000.

Mr Bennett, who lives in Darwen, said the money was to cover his funeral expenses and he feels as though he has 'lost everything'.

The former welder, who was forced to retire in 2009 to become a carer for his 78-year-old wife Pearl, said the situation was made worse because it happened around the time she suffered a stroke and two heart attacks.

Mr Bennett said he was first contacted by the fraudster, who called himself Barry Mercer and spoke with a Scottish accent, in June.

‘Barry’ told him that he worked for Barclays fraud division and he was investigating an employee from the Blackburn branch of the bank who had attempted to withdraw money from his bank account.

In a follow-up call on June 28 Mr Bennett said he was told there was a virus on his computer, hackers were trying to access his account and ‘Barry’ needed access to his machine to fix it. It is at that point Mr Bennett believes the fraudster was able to get his bank details. He was told not to access his laptop for 48 hours because that is how long it would take for the anti-virus software to clear.

Mr Bennett, who also worked as a civilian security guard for the British military, said he saw a bank statement pop up for what he thought was his joint savings account which had £26,000 in it.

The victim was then told by ‘Barry’ that the bank employee had withdrawn £9,000 from his bank account and in trying to refund him the money he had accidentally transferred £26,000.

Mr Bennett said he was told the only way this could be remedied is if he went down to the bank and transferred money from his savings account himself. In total he was told to transfer just short of £10,000 from his savings account and current account.

Having not been told if the bank employee being investigated was male or female, Mr Bennett said he was told to say, if asked why such large amounts of money were being transferred, he was doing home improvements. He was also told that he should call ‘Barry’ as soon as he got to the bank and keep him on the line so he could hear what was going on.

The following day Mr Bennett, who suffers a number of health problems including heart failure and arthritis, said he was asked if he had any other computers.

At that stage, and having been bombarded by phone calls from seven different telephone numbers, Mr Bennett said he began to become suspicious and threatened to go back down to his branch.

In the intervening period the fraudster took out loans in Mr Bennett’s name and cleared out the victim’s bank account. That deception totalled £27,300.

Mr Bennett said: “All this on top of my poor health didn’t do me any favours. I was actually physically sick when I realised what had happened.

“When I went into an upstairs office in the bank a police officer came in and I almost frightened him to death. He thought I was having a heart attack. I have never really been right since.

“It has been a horrendous experience. You read about it in newspapers. You see it in documentary programmes about people being caught out. You think it will never happen to you but then it does and you have done the same things the other victims have done.

“I no longer do online banking and I don’t do anything on the phone, I go to the bank.”

He added: “I feel guilty. I don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed. I was more worried about my involvement and possibly ending up behind bars. I felt I was under suspicion even though I know I am a victim.

“If it ever goes to court I would like the authorities to let me know so I can look this guy in the eye and tell him exactly what I think of him. People like him are the scum of the earth. They can’t get an honest job so they con people when they are at their most vulnerable.”

In a letter sent to Mr Bennett, Barclays Bank said it had investigated his refund claim and found he had authorised one transaction of £9,000 on June 28 and four transactions on June 29 totalling £27,300.

The letter continued: “Barclays have completed the relevant security checks to ensure that you are the account holder and that your account was not being accessed by a third party. At this point you had full control over your funds. As you willingly withdrew your funds, Barclays are not liable for this transaction.

“As a result of this investigation we can confirm that Barclays will not be refunding your claim of £9,000 but have credited your account with the amount of £27,300, which was withdrawn using your debit card and pin number."

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “If you suspect you have been a victim of fraud or online crime you can contact Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

A Barclays spokesman was unavailable to comment further.