'Theft from business account made me feel sick'

The owner of an equestrian centre says she felt "sick" after discovering money had been stolen from her business account.

Angela Winter, who runs Winters Equestrian Cross Country Centre in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, claims more than £2,000 was stolen from the company's account last week.

She said the theft happened after she received a call from someone claiming to be from the NatWest fraud team. Winter said she only gave them her address and the third digit of her security password.

She said: "It's a month's money gone. It's just the shock of it. You feel sick to your stomach that these people are so believable."

Winter added: "You see it on telly and I think, I'd never fall for that when, actually, I did. I couldn't believe it."

Winter said she questioned the caller's identity but said they reassured her they would not ask her for her pin or security number.

They then asked her to confirm whether two transactions from her account were legitimate, which she said made her feel "like they were really looking after me".

Winter said: "I genuinely thought it was the bank. They had all these transactions in front of them. How could they not be the bank?"

The caller told her she would get a text through and would have to press Y.

She said the caller started "pressurising" her to wait for the text before she put the phone down.

Winter checked her account later that day and saw £2,000 had been stolen.

"In the grand scheme of things, it's not hundreds of thousands," she said. "But, for us, it's a hell of a lot of money. That's a lot of work for me.

"It has affected me. It's made me feel a little bit sick and a bit uncomfortable that they can lie so well and make me believe them."

Winter said she missed out on competing in an equestrian competition at the weekend due to "feeling down in the dumps" after the incident.

Winter has since been refunded by NatWest.

A spokesperson for the bank said she had been targeted by a "bank-impersonation scam".

"Criminals can convincingly pretend to be from a bank, the police or another trusted organisation," they said.

"NatWest will never ask customers to move money to a 'safe' account or to transfer funds to help with a fraud investigation – only a criminal would do this.

"If you receive an unexpected call, text or email about your account, hang up and contact your bank on a trusted number, such as the one on the back of your card."

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