Gloria Hunniford has had £120,000 stolen from her bank account.
The 76-year-old presenter has fallen victim to fraud after a scammer walked into a Santander branch in Croydon with her ‘grandson’ and ‘daughter’ pretending to be the elderly star and conned the cashier into releasing the money.
Personal banker Aysha Davis, 28, said the impersonator had told her she had a "few bob" in her account and had come to the bank to add her grandson as a signatory because she had been ill.
The bank worker then helped them complete the paperwork, photocopied their driving licences and released the £120,000.
Ms Davis was initially accused of being part of the scam but was then declared innocent by the jury after 30 minutes of deliberation.
She told the court room: "The name on the ID card was Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, and sorry to be stereotypical but this lady looked like a Mary. I had to google Gloria Hunniford and even if I passed her on the street I wouldn’t recognise her…"
"…Banks get defrauded every day but because of the high profile of the person on the account, I am being used as a scapegoat to try and repair the damage to the bank’s reputation."
Police are still searching for Gloria’s "lookalike" and her daughter, while her pretend grandson Alan Dowie, 18, faces jail.
He’s already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, while Reyon Dillon, also 18, has pleaded guilty to laundering some of the cash from the scam. Both will receive their sentence this week.
Santander have now reimbursed Gloria with the £120,000 snatched from her account, according to the Mail Online.
Gloria Hunniford victim of £120k fraud
