Fraudsters tricked victims into transferring £236million from bank accounts last year – here’s how to protect yourself
There were nearly two million cases of victims being tricked into transferring money from bank accounts last year.
Brits were tricked into sending £236 million to fraudsters in push payment scams last year
But what are authorised push payment scams and how can you stay protected from them?
There were 43,875 reported cases of authorised push payment scams last year.
In most of these cases the victim lost around £3,000 pounds to fraudsters.
Gareth Shaw, money expert from Which? has said: “These figures show the alarming scale of push payment scams, with people still losing life-changing sums of money to this type of crime."
So knowing how to protect yourself from authorised payment scams is vital.
Unlike a regular scam where a fraudster takes money from the bank account of a victim without them knowing, an authorised payment scam involves the fraudster tricking the customer into thinking that they are from a legitimate source so that the customer hands over the money willingly.
One of the most common forms of this scam is when a fraudster rings up pretending to be from your bank or another trusted organisation and tells you have been a victim of fraud or that you need to move your money to a different bank account.
This exact scam happened recently when people were sent a fake voicemail from HMRC telling that they were under investigation for fraud.
These scams often happen over the phone or via email as it is necessary for the fraudster to gain your trust
How tell if you are being scammed over the phone.
- Stay calm and take your time: A scammer will try and rush you to get your details, They may also try to stop you from speaking to a friend or family member. If they are being insistent on you acting quickly or making you uncomfortable they may be trying to scam you.
- Passwords: If the caller asks for your four digit pin or for your online banking password, this is a scam.
- Transfers: The caller asks tells you have been a victim of fraud and they to transfer money into a new account then you are being scammed.
- Withdrawing money: They ask you to withdraw money from your account to give to them for safe keeping
- Courier: They may offer to send a courier to pick up your cheque book, cash or credit card.
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Text message scams
- Links: If the message asks you to provide personal information or asks you to follow a link to make a payment.
- Unknown numbers: If the text asks you to call a number you have never rung before. Call the your bank on a number you trust and ask them to check whether the number and text message are genuine.
- Urgency: The sender wants you to act fast and is writing with an urgent tone.
Santander have warned customers about a new text message scam that could hand your bank details over to criminals.
It's not just dodgy texts that you need to be careful about, there is also scams taking place on Whatsapp.
Email Scams
- Unsolicited emails: Always be suspicious of emails from a source you don't recognise asking for your details
- Web Address: place your mouse pointer over the senders email address, make sure it matches the organisation they claim to be from.
- Impersonal: The sender doesn't use your name and instead writes "Dear Customer".
- Errors: Any kind of spelling or grammatical mistakes.
- Website Links: There is a link to a popular website with one letter changed. Eg: Amazen, rather then Amazon.
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