I received a call from my bank while I was driving (hands free) asking if I’d tried to buy an item for £300 from Argos. I said no so the very polite and plausible gentleman told me it’s ok, the bank had put a stop on the transaction. He asked did I have my debit card with me (which I didn’t), could anyone have used my card, did I use my phone to pay for transactions, had I bought anything on line using a link from social media etc.
At this stage I parked the car so I could concentrate on the call but my mind was in overdrive thinking about things I’d recently bought on line & what bank card I’d used (I have a few accounts & credit cards). He asked me to check my banking app & I confirmed to him everything looked fine, He then asked me to check my other accounts and confirm the balances - which I did 😳. He also asked me to confirm the last 4 digits of these accounts which again I did 🫣. Then he asked if I knew a man called Mohammed Xxxx as there was a transfer for £3k pending from one of my accounts to him. By this time I’m feeling sick & told him that was definitely a fraudulent transaction. It was only when he asked me to transfer £3k into my current account that I started to be suspicious. When I hesitated and suggested he could be a scammer he confirmed my name, address & email address & that he wasn’t asking me for any passwords etc & that he was trying to keep my money safe. Thankfully warning lights started to flash & I told him I would not be transferring any money, even if it was to my own account, and that I was going to call the bank myself for peace of mind. When I asked for his name & where he was based he hung up!
I drove straight home, my debit card was in my purse and I called the banks fraud department. Spoke to a lovely lady who confirmed they hadn’t called me. Thankfully all my accounts were safe and they’re locked until I tell them otherwise, just to be on the safe side. I’ve changed the password on my email address and checked my other bank accounts and they are okay.
Now I watch Scam Interceptors on BBC so think I’m pretty savvy with this kind of thing. Maybe if the man had an Indian accent I’d have been more alert but he had an Australian accent so I assumed he was genuine. (I don’t mean to offend anyone from India and apologise if I have, it’s just the scam call centres on the BBC programme are nearly always based in India).
I am worried that they know my name, postal address, email address & phone number. I don’t think they asked for my date of birth but I’m not 100% sure now. Either way it’s a worry what they might do with this information.
I’m actually quite shocked how close I was to being scammed, these people are so good and they slowly reel you in so please be careful.