Loose Women star Gloria Hunniford has shared a scam she fell victim to as she warns others of the dangers. The broadcaster’s bank account was emptied of £120,000 after an impostor arrived at a Santander branch with two people who the woman claimed were her daughter and grandson.
The 85-year-old is the host of BBC’s Rip Off Britain. She hosts alongside Louise Minchin, Julia Somerville and Angela Rippon as they aim to expose and solve some of the UK’s consumer nightmares.
In 2016, Gloria found out Santander gave her savings account to “four people” at one branch after her husband Stephen Way died, before he died he made a request at a different branch to be an authorised signatory to co-manage her account.
After speaking to a personal banker, the impersonator produced a fake driving licence and drained £102,000 from the account. A further £18,000 was later withdrawn.
Gloria told BANG Showbiz at the 2025 Best Heroes Awards: “I was scammed, some years back now, £120,000. Four people turned up at a different branch of Santander, and they gave these four people my account.
“Now, my husband had gone in and said, ‘well, I would like to be a signatory on Gloria’s account’ and they said, ‘well, it doesn’t work like that because you have got to get permission,’ even though they just gave it [away to those people].”
At the time, a Santander spokesperson said: “Santander takes fraud extremely seriously. As soon as we identified this fraudulent activity we alerted the authorities as well as Ms Hunniford herself.
“We are very sympathetic to the distress caused to Ms Hunniford for being the victim of a scam and as is our normal practice in a case like this, we have reimbursed her fully for her financial loss.
“We have also made significant improvements to our processes to ensure this type of fraudulent activity is prevented in future.”
Gloria recovered the £120,000, and the TV star said it was ironic that it happened to her, given she presents a programme teaching people how not to be scammed.
The TV star said: “I mean, I got it all back but considering I spend so much of my time teaching people – or hoping we teach them – not to be scammed, but then I couldn’t have done anything.” Gloria warned scamming could get worse as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rise.
Speaking to The Mirror in an exclusive interview earlier this year, Gloria explained why she still enjoy working so much. She said: “Work makes me feel safe, because I have a structure, I know what I’m supposed to be doing. All the emotional stuff and all the heartbreak, that’s the hard bit to cope with.
“As long as you can take your [self] away from grief for an hour it helps clear your mind for a little while.” Gloria lost her daughter Caron Keating to cancer 21 years ago and her husband Stephen last year.