A great-grandmother who lost her life savings of $8700 in a phone scam, wants to warn others, despite feeling 'embarrassed and stupid”.

According to Bay of Plenty Police, the 74-year-old is the fifth victim in two weeks who has reported a similar scam, with some locals losing tens of thousands of dollars in one hit.

Sandra Kellow says she previously considered herself quite savvy when it came to spotting cold calling scammers.

Now she feels so 'ashamed” that she fell 'hook line and sinker” last Tuesday to a person posing as the BNZ Fraud squad calling himself 'Henry William”.

'Henry William! I mean that should have been a red flag from the start! When my daughter and I reported it to the Tauranga police later we did all have a laugh about that,” says Sandra.

'If I don't laugh, I will cry. $8700 is a huge lot of money to me as a great-grandmother. That is hard earned money for my family.

'I am absolutely devastated. It makes me feel all the more stupid coming out with this but I want to warn others because these crooks are so devious they can fool anyone.”

Sandra took a call on Tuesday morning at 8.15am from a man calling himself Henry William who said he was from the BNZ fraud squad and that he had noticed some strange activity on her account, including transactions in US dollars.

He then advised her to download two apps called ‘Quick Support' and ‘Any Desk' and then told her to turn off her mobile phone.

'He gave me a number to call back on which was an Auckland number. He didn't have a New Zealand accent but I didn't even think of that as we live in a multicultural society so I am used to all accents - I'm from London myself. I was quite busy at the time so simply did what he said.”

While her phone was switched off, her bank account was emptied of $8700. In the meantime, the real BNZ was frantically trying to contact Sandra.

When she eventually received their messages and spoke to them, she realised that the scammers had been able to get into her phone to access her passwords.

'I called my daughter in tears and said, I've been fleeced!”

When they reported the incident to Tauranga Central Police station, Sandra was told she was the fifth person to report of this type of scam in two weeks.

'The police were most helpful and kind, as was Hannah at BNZ Cameron Road. They said that no one is immune to these types of scams.”

Sandra is still waiting to hear from BNZ whether her money can be returned.

Angela Boundy of Online safety agency Netsafe says telephone scams or 'cold call scammers” are among the most common types of scams reported to the agency.

While these calls may all differ in nature, Netsafe say there are some tell-tale signs including:

-The call will be unexpected

-The caller may be friendly and try to make you think they're local.

-The scammers who call may know specific details about you, and have likely gained this information through public and stolen data sources

-Even though the scammer is likely based overseas, the phone number may appear as a local number.

A police spokesperson told SunLive that anyone who believes they have been a victim of this type of scam to report it to police.

'A number of phone scams can be operating nationwide at any one time and, while some of the details vary, the general premise is often the same. People should look after their personal details on phones and computers in the same way you would your wallet and other possessions.”

Police advise if you receive a call from someone purporting to be from a business, ask them for credentials and never hand over personal details such as computer passwords or bank account details. If the caller is legitimate they won't mind verifying their identity.

A BNZ spokesperson says BNZ will never contact you out of the blue to request your access number, PIN number, or get your to download apps onto your devices.

'If you get a call like this, don't provide any information, just hang up and contact us on the number on the back of your card to report it.

'If you do share any information or are worried that you may have fallen victim to a scam, ring us as soon as you can. The sooner we know about it the better chance we have of recovering your money.”

The bank has developed the BNZ Scam Savvy tool to help New Zealanders be safer online, and this takes people through a range of common scam scenarios and identifies the red flags.

Scam Savvy can be found online at www.getscamsavvy.co.nz or customers can book a session in a branch.