Cyril Banks, 91, of Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England, was scammed out of his life savings of £9,000 in June.
A man called Cyril at his home claiming to be from Scotland Yard and said that someone had stolen Cyril’s bank details. The man then asked Cyril to withdraw all of the money from his account in order to assist with the investigation. The scammer’s accomplice then went to Cyril’s house and collected the cash, which was never seen again.
Supporters set up a GoFundMe page and with the help of over 400 donators the £9,000 target was reached in just six hours. In the end, a total of £18,000 was raised the to help the WWII veteran out.
Banks has donated the difference of £9,000 to charities at a concert that he organizes every year at Ugley village hall in Essex. “Cyril does the concert every year, but this one’s extra special as it shows what a generous, lovely, giving person he is,” said his friend Annie Riley.
Recipients of checks from Banks include the Not Forgotten Association. The Not Forgotten Association helps serve ex-service members. The Royal Legion’s poppy appeal, the Salvation Army, and Think Jessica were other charities receiving donations from Banks. Think Jessica is an organization that works with elderly and other vulnerable people to warn them about scams.
Banks also gave £2,000 to Shaun Whitler, 27. Shaun is a footballer who lost both legs in a car crash.
“He’s done the right thing by giving the leftover money away – it would have been wrong of him to have kept more, but it was so kind of people to give it to him,” Ms. Riley said.
According to the Hertfordshire Police, they are still investigating the theft of money from Banks.