A FAMILY butcher became the target of Valentine's Day scammers who cloned the firm's Facebook page in an attempt to trick customers into giving their bank details.

Crump's in Royal Wootton Bassett High Street had posted a competition for customers to win a steaks and a bottle of champagne.

And owner Andy Crump only discovered the fraud when he spotted comments telling people they had won and encouraging them to follow a link to the fraudster's page.

He said: I knew the comments were fake because the post had only been up for a few hours and the winner wasn’t supposed to be announced for another eight or nine days."

He alerted SwindonWeb, which runs the page for the business and the post was swiftly removed.

But it wasn't before one victim had fallen for the ruse and handed over his bank details, losing £11.95.

“It made me feel so annoyed this happened, obviously they do it for financial gain but it’s beggars belief. We do these prizes every year, we get a brilliant response to it all, I can’t explain how it makes me feel but it’s just an absolute nightmare.

“We’re a small company, an independent trader, I find it a bit strange that they would do this. It’s happened before, about five years ago now, they hacked into our system and transferred £8,500. I still don’t understand how they managed to do that. The bank refunded our money but it’s the trouble we don’t need at the end of the day.”

Wiltshire Police cyber prevent and protect officer, Lee Stripe said: “People should be very careful when responding to competitions.

“If they are contacted by someone else, a third party, and not by the person or organisation responsible for the competition in question, then please be extra vigilant as this could be a scam.

“A common tactic of defrauding people is to ask for payment in return for their prize – again, this is suspicious behaviour and needs to be treated with caution.

“For the person in this case who lost money, they should report this to Action Fraud and also change their bank details, as these could now be compromised. They should contact their bank immediately.

“As this scam is all about gaining money and card details, it’s highly unlikely that any computers used have been compromised by a virus through clicking on the link. However, as a precaution, it is advisable to scan your machine with anti-virus software just to check.

“We would also advise that anyone posting competitions online should always clearly outline how the winner will be notified and that they will never need to pay for receipt of the prize.”

To find out more on how you can protect yourself visit wiltshire.police.uk/advice