Santander text and phonecall. Scam?

[Smartsub]

If it is , it's a good one , but I think it must be.

I used to have my mobile phone number on DS2's bank account but we changed that when he left school. (3 years ago)

Today I've had a text message saying account ending "1234" has gone into unauthorised overdraft today (Sunday?). It's not DS's account number and he says has checked his account and it's all in order. So I dismissed it as nonsense.

However I've just answered an automated call on the landline "an important message for DS full name" asking me to press 1 to continue. I didn't press it because that does feel like a scam, but they have his full name and two phone numbers that are/have been linked to his account.

Oh and DS1 who's number has never been linked to DS2's account has also had the same text.

Banks would never ask you to press a number to speak to someone. Google the number. It’s really terrible that people fall for it and before they know it they’ve given away security information so that the fraudsters can access accounts to transfer money.

So, you have had a couple of scam contacts in one day?

Has he put his phone number on a website eg gumtree recently?

It's not that we've had a couple of scam contacts, it's that they have his full name, including middle name and three different numbers connected to him.

It does come up as a scam if you Google the number and I wouldn't fall for a "press 1" type call but to also get messages on 2 other numbers within a few minutes and have the full name. Blimey.

I am with Santander and get that text. So I don’t think the text is a scam. Is he due a payment going out that would take him into the overdraft? Never had the call though.

He might have put his details on something on line, but I doubt his middle name, the landline or his brother's number.

No, he says the account is fine and it's not his account number.

Who knows how they get all these details!

My bet is still on something he filled in online that's either used for data harvesting, or has been hacked

Phone Santander. They are really good. DD2 had something similar and it turned out that a builder's merchant was trying to take £1k from DD. She's a student. Santander picked it up and flagged it as unusual, which of course it was. DD was hysterical because she had had issues before (she does over-react sometimes) but they were absolutely lovely to her. In the end they sent her a new debit card as hers seems to have been cloned. Do it now, they have people there 24/7.

I have a Santader account and out of interest I've goggled and it seems that they do send these type of messages. Obvioulsy that doesn't mean that your messages are genuine but I think you should be aware that they might be and your DS should try and check if you can't think how a scammer could have all that info

My daughter-in-law has just been involved in a scam with HSBC and Monzo. Somebody sent her a text saying she had to pay £1.50 for the shipping of a parcel she was expecting. Obviously it was a scam. She received it late at night, English isn't her first language, she clicked on the link and entered her bank details. They asked for her sort code and so the next day they called her, said they were from that branch and wanted her to transfer money over to a new account they said they had set up. When they called her, the number came up on her phone as HSBC and, more worryingly, it continued a thread of texts she had had legitimately from HSBC. Even more worryingly, and nobody knows how they knew this, they knew the last couple of payments she had made from her account.

The scammers are so clever nowadays. The only thing to do is to go into the branch.

have you not contacted the bank ?