GINA Pennington said that the business is back to normal after a scammer took a £35,000 loan in their name. 

The scammer did this through 'SIM swapping' which is where the scammer gets hold of the victim's phone number, rings the phone provider asking for a new number, and then uses this new number to log into their bank accounts. 

Gina and Dave knew they had been scammed when they got a text from Lloyds congratulating them for their successful application for a £35,000 loan. 

They managed to freeze their bank accounts and take down their number, but this left them in a lurch with the business. 

Gina said: "Everything is back to normal. Lloyds and EE are just amazing. By Friday, Dave managed to get his old phone number. It was just a question of being on it, ringing up your provider and getting your number locked."

"I think everybody should be concerned about it. It is scary how easy it is to do. We've realised how many people we don't know have this number."

The couple advocates logging into bank accounts using more than just a phone number as verification. This can be done by having a card reader, for example.