Your phone pings and it’s a message from your bank about a new payment being set up on your account. If you do not recognise the transaction, it says, you should get in touch. There’s a number for you to call.
The person on the other end of the line tells you that your account has been compromised by scammers. They need details from you so they can help protect your money. Before you know it, they are giving you details of a safe account to transfer your savings to, or asking you to hand over your debit card so it can be replaced.
Impersonation scams suh as this are rife - and costly. Figures from Lloyds bank show that fraudsters posing as representatives of trusted organisations – including the police, banks, HM Revenue & Customs and phone providers – stole 10% more from its customers in the year to the end of June than in the previous 12 months. While the number of its customers reporting a scam has fallen by 3% this year, the average sum taken rose by 10% to £3,516.
Meanwhile, Santander says more than £3m has been stolen from its customers through bank impersonation scams so far this year, with an average loss of £6,000. Because the messages are being sent out randomly, the scammer could claim to be from a company you have no financial relationship with. But if a text or phone message does include your bank’s name, it is likely to stop you in your tracks.
It might be a call or email, but it usually starts with a text, says Elaine Ross, head of fraud analytics at Nationwide building society. The text says that a payment has been set up to someone from your account and asks you to take action if you don’t recognise, or did not make, the transaction. Recent messages seen by Guardian Money show criminals saying that people have paid a specific person or business.
In some cases the message will give you a number to call, in others it will ask you to reply ‘Y’ if it was you, and ‘N’ if it wasn’t. That puts people into a panic,” she says. Once they have you on the phone, they will attempt to persuade you to move cash or hand over your cards - or both – for your own protection.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
