Hillingdon Council Trading Standards and an Abbey National employee helped expose a huge oil shares scam saving a potential 'victim' tens of thousands of pounds.

The Trading Standards Team were contacted by Annette Williams, a Money Advisor working at the Abbey National in Hayes Town, after she became suspicious when a customer asked to withdraw £75,000 to buy shares in an American Oil Company.

The Trading Standards Officers armed with pages of evidence visited the bank to advise the potential victim that this was likely to be a scam. Upon investigation it turned out that the investment company was not registered in the UK and therefore not regulated by the FSA which meant the shares in the unlisted oil company could be worthless.

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Kathy Sparks, Deputy Director of Environment and Consumer Protection, said: "In this case, the Abbey employees quick thinking prevented an individual being 'tricked' out of the unbelievably large sum of money. Hillingdon residents need to be on the alert about these overseas investment companies can be very persuasive and are out to get your money. Once they target a consumer they may return to seek out the same victim over and over again and some, unfortunately, have parted with their life savings as a result."

(CD/JM)