It was a hefty withdrawal, so Wendy Cleasby thought taking her cash out inside the bank was the safest option.
But that’s exactly where a pair of conmen were waiting to pounce.
Just inside the high street branch, the two Romanians who pointed out that she had just dropped £5 were actually tricking her into turning away… so they could steal her money from a cashpoint machine.
Footage shows Mrs Cleasby, 53, bending down to pick up the note – put there by scammers Floran Constantin Serban, 28, and Constantin Radu Serban, 22 – while they take the £300 she had just withdrawn from the ATM.
The pair have now been jailed for 16 weeks by Teesside magistrates after admitting the theft – and ordered to pay back the money between them.
Mrs Cleasby said she was withdrawing the cash in a Santander bank in Middlesbrough when she was approached by the ‘charming and polite’ men.
She said: ‘It was a perfectly timed con.
‘They knew what they were doing and must have rehearsed it hundreds of times.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2648289/Romanian-scammers-stole-300-woman-Santander-bank.html#ixzz33ldwirkX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
