FRAUDSTERS posing as a councillor hacked a charity’s email system to demand  £20,000 from Age Concern in Bracknell.

An elaborate email hoax nearly ended in disaster last week after hackers posed as chairman Paul Bidwell in order to get the funds.

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Fortunately, requests to transfer cash to a “bogus HSBC account” were stopped in their tracks after the charity’s treasurer called the chairman to double-check.

Paul Bidwell, also a Bracknell town councillor, told the News: “It was horrifying. It was a very sophisticated hack.

“It was like me sending you an email saying can you please send money to this account as your boss.

“My treasurer, who was at the end of this receiving the requests for money, was cursing me left, right and centre because she thought I was dictating her.

“One of the reasons she didn’t do it is because she knows I wouldn’t do this sort of thing anyway.

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“After getting frustrated with all this demand that she sends this money to a bogus HSBC account she phoned me up and I said ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’.”

After realising they were the targets of a hoax, the Age Concern team went to their office in Winkfield Row and changed all computer passwords, deleted all old user accounts and shut down their server.

Chairman Paul Bidwell has now warned other town councillors to make sure any charities or organisations they represent are protected against fraudsters by asking them to take steps to bolster their security.

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In an email from his council account to his colleagues, he wrote: “These are tough times but it is also, sadly, an opportunity for criminals to attempt to extract funds for charities that are it a very precarious state.”

Age Concern Bracknell Forest is a charity which promotes the wellbeing of elderly people in the borough and has a day centre and care service to support the most vulnerable in the area.

Like with many other voluntary organisations, the coronavirus lockdown has also hit Age Concern hard.

A recent Facebook post from the charity indicated it will now have to limit the support it can offer its clients.

Paul told the News the charity is already “very near to the bone” as it relies heavily on revenue from its users and no longer receives a council grant.

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Speaking about the future of the charity had the attempted extortion been successful, he added: “For a charity of our size, that would have killed us.

“It was a real kick in the teeth.”