Pensioner conned out of her cash card in Hornchurch had £500 stolen from her in matter of minutes.

An elderly lady who parked her car in the car park near Iceland in Hornchurch, was conned out of her card by a man pretending to help her.

Her daughter Tina told the Havering Daily: “My mum who is 78 years old, went to Iceland and parked at the car park at the back of the store and went to pay. As she approached the ticket machine a man was standing there and began speaking to her.

“He told her that the machine was not taking cash and that she had to use her card to pay. My mum wasn’t sure what to do so he offered to help her and took her card. He then asked her for her pin number and told her that her card had got stuck and wasn’t coming out so she go in the store and report it.”

Tina’s mum entered Iceland to report that her card had been swallowed up by the machine and was told by staff that the ticket machine only takes cash transactions and not cards.

“My mum was then in a right state and began to panic and rushed over to the Halifax to cancel her card. The staff at the Halifax were fantastic and really looked after her. They informed her that her card had been used within minutes of it being taken at a cash point in Elm Park where they withdrew £500. Luckily she was reimbursed and staff helped calm her down.”

Tina’s mum had previously had a bad experience with parking machines and as a result was grateful for the help the man was offering her unaware that he was a conman and thief.

“These people are utter scum bags, they take advantage of the elderly and most vulnerable in our community. The machine they had was fake and they managed to take my mum’s card by pretending to help her.

“Luckily the Halifax and the police were fantastic and really helped my mum. It has now been passed on to the fraud squad.“

The suspect is described as a black male, tall, slim build and in his 20’s.