Just got scammed out of almost 1k

[BonneMamanAbricot]

Please be so careful of phone calls from your bank. Always call them back, as caller ID can be faked. My actual bank said they had never seen this scam. They duplicated everything, all the spiels, the robot connecting voice, the hold music.

Second month of being paid after 5 months of no income. Back to nothing again. FFS.

Absolutely. This part sounds really odd, and it feels like a weak spot in the banks security system.

I would definitely go back to the bank and complain and ask them to compensate you. As others have said, there's also the Financial Ombudsman if you get no joy at the bank.

Can I recommend that people listen to Scam Secrets on BBC Sounds? It’s an excellent series that tells you all about how scammers work. One of the presenters is a convicted ex scammer. One of the scams they discuss is not dissimilar to what happened to the OP, others are incredibly easily carried out.

Sorry if it’s already been mentioned but I’ve not RTFT.

So when you said your bank rang you, did you actually speak to a person from the bank when you input the OTP?

Is there a reason you aren't saying which bank it is?

She said it was an automated call.

And she doesn't want sued for defamation 😀

Because I've been put off sharing any more banking information! It is a typical high street bank

No it was an automated voice and all it said was 'say or key in your code now.' No mention of what it was or additional security warning. When the scammer explained what it was for I believed the explanation.

Obviously I was joking, it made me smile that you think that you haven't had a scam called because you don't answer the phone.

How horrible for you. I can easily see how this could happen when you’re out and about with your kids. Thanks for the reminder that scammers are absolutely everywhere! Hope you get your money back OP.

Not all of us have the luxury of not answering unknown numbers. I'm engaged with a lot of health services and get frequent calls from unknown numbers. Calls from hospitals tend to be "Private Number" but I've had District Nurses calling from their mobiles and all sorts. I have to answer them all. Thankfully the only attempted scam calls have been fairly obvious.

It does annoy me when one hospital phones to make an appointment, says "Is that Ohjoyohbliss?" "Yes." "Can you confirm your date of birth and first line of address?" then gets shirty with me when I decline to do so. THEY phoned ME from a Private Number than expect me to give out identifying information? No.

Ok, I see a few people here don't answer their phone to unknown numbers. I find that very odd. I always answer, but hang up if it's a scam call as it sometimes is. I don't know anyone who doesn't answer their phone.

I don't think it matters how they got the passcode or how they were in her account.

The fraud only happened because the OP gave it to them. So the advice remains the same. Never ever give codes to anyone. It's that simple.

That makes more sense then, so there's no way to know of that call was actually from your bank?

I would be trying to find out how they were able to get the OTP, I bank with a high street bank too and hope it's not the same one if there's a flaw in their aystem

Yes this is a really good point. I have multiple hospital appts and appts for my kids calling from unknown numbers and asking for basic details, often calling from unknown numbers. You get used to answering because you don't want to see that you missed a call that you've been waiting for.

I disagree, it absolutely does matter how they got a code than in normal circumstances would be sent to the OPs mobile. If they were able to change that number it's really concerning

Sorry again if I’m coming across as difficult but the only way to raise awareness without scaremongering is to truely understand how you were scammed.

So, the scammer is making the transfer but he needed you to verify the transaction from your phone. That was the layer of security which he couldn’t bypass.
The scammer then called you pretending to be the fraud team. He tricked you into thinking you needed to use the OTP code to stop the transaction but actually you authorised the transfer he was making?
Have I got that correct? No judgement - you were a victim of a crime and it’s awful!! Scammers are the absolute scum of the earth!!! I just need to understand how it happened to decide whether I need to be anxious or not about this.

I just can't be bothered to answer if I don't know who it is. It is likely to be a scammer or someone trying to sell me something or sign up to something. I am not wasting time on those sorts of calls.

If they are a real person who wants or needs to speak to me they will leave a message and I can call them back if I know they are genuine.

Luckily my doctor's surgery comes up with the name of the surgery and my hospital contact me by email or text.

That’s not the same though. The most a fake hospital call would get in terms of your personal details is your date of birth, which is freely available for most people on social media or companies house.

“hello, is that the parent or guardian of little Freddie? Can you confirm Freddie’s DOB? Lovely. We’ll see him in clinic on 3rd June at 10:30.” - there’s no risk to you or little Freddie there, unlike handing out your full bank acct and sort no.

Oh I am so sorry OP. I had something similar recently and literally the only thing that set alarm bells ringing from the very start was that they called me via WhatsApp!! I thought that was really weird, but played along to see what would happen and, my goodness, had I not noticed when I picked up the call I may have fallen for it as he had a ton of my info and was so, so convincing. He even offered me a few tips on keeping my account safe!! It was when he asked me to verify some further info, I told him that I had no way of actually knowing that he was the fraud dept at my bank and would have to call back to verify this.

He agreed and said he would call back later that pm to continue. Never called back as I think he realised I was onto him when I said I would be using an entirely different line to call the bank (this is crucial - never just use the same line as the crooks keep it open and you just speak to them again).

It makes me SO furious - if they called my 80 year old parents, they would have gone into a flat panic and probably fallen for it. The scammers are such bastards.

You’re a man aren’t you. Possibly American

😂😂😂
Dreadful detective work. Couldn't be further off. 😂 COMPLETELY wrong on both counts.

If that's how far off your assumptions go I can see why people like.youself get scammed.
You made that story up from such limited info.
Thank you for the laugh though, been good. I'll tuck.my American dick away and toddle on.. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

No it's fine, I want to help anyone I can.

Yes I believe that's what happened. He had my name, address and basic personal information. He then, after a long preamble making me concerned and eager to secure my account, asked me for my sort code and acct number for 'verification' and then gave me a code (ostensibly to secure my account). This was the OTP but it was sent to him, NOT to me - I had no notification. (This was part of what made me believe it - he didn't ask me for a code, he GAVE me a code.) And he must already have had my 3-digit security code, expiry etc because he didn't ask for that.

I feel like they must have hacked into my personal information somehow and then I gave them the final authorisation that they needed. It's scary to me too, because I don't know what or how much personal information they have.

I also think it's possible that the OP is misremembering what was said and what imformation was given. I'm not saying she's lying. But she says herself that she was frazzled and stressed and busy, and only realised a few hours later what had happened. Recall may not be perfect.

Are you sure this isn’t also part of the scam? When they said they couldn’t recover the money, was that on a call where they phoned you, or had you phoned them?

I don't know anyone who does these days unless they know the number or are expecting a call. If not we all let it go to VM first as we are usually busy working or out or whatever so if it's not something we are expecting it know we don't answer. And that seems to be the same for most people I know and catch up with.
People are too busy these days and not everyone likes the where ever I am you can reach me thing so we hold off on answering any old number interrupting our day.

Even my parents no longer answer every single number that calls them.

The good thing about a lot of elderly people is they watch terrestrial TV dramas. Channel 5's, Cold Call was good and then it was featured on the Jeremy Vine and other morning shows. Martin Lewis does scam slots, regularly and then there's the scam interceptors on BBC, of a morning. It is probably really busy people, being called at busy moments, that fall for them.
@flossingtonbroadway people are saying that banks wouldn't call and insist that you move money, to prevent fraud. Not that they wouldn't call at all.
There's a extremely plausible scam going around with Tesco phone contracts. The scammers have got the paperwork, phone calls and email format, spot on. It starts with being told you've won ear buds and build to a too-good-to-be-true, contract on the latest IPhone. After Tesco deliver it, they phone you and say it's faulty and they'll pick it up. A friend who was caught out had to have it delivered and then send it back. It took months to sort out.

I called the 24h line at night, once I had come home and actually had time to think and thought oh shit, none of this makes sense. (That day I had to take my DCs to clubs, a playdate, and then a birthday party, so was very busy and stressed. I was with friends and family and they all said it sounded like I had had a lucky escape - no one questioned it.)

First I re-downloaded my mobile banking app and found the logon details had changed so I had lost access. Then the 24h banking phone line rejected everything the scammer said, said the card was still active, and transferred me to fraud. It then took around 3 hours for them to get the story and report the fraudulent transactions. Obviously my card was cancelled but I don't know if it will be enough as it seems that the scammer had a lot of access to my information. I will have to go into the bank asap because I don't know if they will try to continue to use my personal information.

People saying your bank will never call you…mine did when there were fraudulent transactions on my account. Santander sent me texts first notifying me of the suspected fraud, asking me to respond if it was me as it was happening and then that they were going to phone me on ‘specific number’. This in itself felt like a red flag to me. So I did a quick google search and saw it was a legitimate number.