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.

Why would that be nonsense. Banks do freeze payments they think are fraud, if they catch them early enough

She's already got her money back

OP, ignore the posters saying it was all pretty basic and obvious. Some years ago I had a similar experience - seemed to be calling from my Bank, claiming some possible fraud etc. and showing up as the Bank’s number. Despite considering myself pretty competent and switched on, I did fall for it - though was also a bit suspicious and so not making it that easy for them and thankfully my actual Bank did realise what was going on while I was still on the call and put a hold on the account before they could do much damage (they had only managed a “test” transaction of a few pounds).

I changed a load of details on the account after that, including the contact phone number. Since then, I have on a fairly regularly basis got both calls and texts to the old number (it’s now 5 years on, and I still got a scam text in the last month), claiming to be from the Bank fraud department. I now know immediately that they are scams because they are calling the wrong number. My advice to you is if at all possible to do the same, or it is quite likely others will try again to scam you, as your details get sold from my criminal gang to another.

Barclays regularly phone me when I try to make what they see as weird payments (usually small, online payments) and I have to confirm it's me. I also have to log into online banking for them to prove I'm who I say I am, and give them a code.

But I know it's them, as it comes minutes after I have a payment declined, and they can tell me exactly what I've just tried to do.

To say your bank don't contact you is completely incorrect.

But they do still show on your account.

Not always

Glad you got your money back - what a strange way of verifying a new device, doesn't sound very secure, I'm guessing this is a new thing and scammers are just catching on to it which is why the bank said it was unusual (not just your regular OTP for a payment Auth) Hopefully the bank will revise this as quickly as possible!!

Good advice, and I'd also add if they agree to you to hang up and call your bank back by yourself to put your mind at rest,, depending on what type of phone you're on they can keep the line open and when you phone the scammers are still on the other end.
Always ring from a different phone for extra safety.

That’s what I’m saying. Why would they ever ask for them as a security question? Perhaps the first or last few digits but wouldn’t need all of them. It’s the kind of thing that when you have time and clarity, it’s obvious it wouldn’t be legit.

Agree. And don't ring the number they give you. Call the number on the back of your card or on your statement.

If it really is your bank, they'll wait .

And if you're busy, wrangling children or at the gym, in the middle of a meeting or a project, or you need time to process, hang up and say you'll get back to them.

Your bank will wait. Also your bank would never call like this.

Agree. And don't ring the number they give you. Call the number on the back of your card or on your statement

Yes, definitely this as well.

I’ve noticed that if I open my bank app when I’m on the phone there’s a big message at the top that says ‘We are not calling you.’ And says to hang up etc if anyone is claiming to be them.

I'm with Barclays and they have NEVER called me. Everything goes through my app, if I'm making a new payment to an online site I get a message on my phone which tells me to authorise the payment through my app.

It strikes me that if EVERY bank had the SAME security protocols, it would be far easier to customers to know what is and isn't legit in the moment.

@WanderleyWagon

Actually it is pretty basic. If the bank calls you, hang up and call them yourself from the app.

is that rocket science? Doh!

@BonneMamanAbricot

they said the payments had been frozen so wouldn’t show up in pending?

sorry but that just seems too unbelievable to me. I would question anyone telling me that on the phone. Maybe try and take things with a pinch of salt instead of being so gullible?

Please try to remember, if the bank calls you, hang up and call them from your app!

(not tha you’ll make the same mistake twice)

If my bank account had been hacked I'd say rather the bank rang me than relied on some kind of app notification that I might not see for ages

If my bank account had been hacked I'd say rather the bank rang me than relied on some kind of app notification that I might not see for ages

Well if the notification is on your phone and the bank are ringing you on your phone...then you'll see the notification then anyway, won't you?

I don't routinely check my bank app for notifications but would hear my phone ringing so my personal preference would be for a call.

I know all phones work differently, mine doesn't automatically show me other notifications when I'm getting a call, as in most things we aren't all the same and that's OK

The most important thing to remember is your bank will never, ever call you. Ever

We're always being told that banks don't call you, that they'll write to you regarding your account

Banks tell you that they will never call you. I don't see how this can happen

The "banks never call you" thing is in reference to general chit chat about your account and asking you to provide details like account numbers and passwords over the phone.

This does not mean your bank will never call you for any reason whatsoever.

Fraud prevention team will absolutely call you if suspicious activity is noted in your account. I received a phone call asking me if I was currently in Mumbai due to someone attempting to draw Rupees from an ATM. I wasn't, they cancelled that card and issued me a new one.

^ correct. Happened to DH he was suspicious so said I’ll ring you back through the official number. They were fine with that.

OP, ignore the posters saying it was all pretty basic and obvious. Some years ago I had a similar experience - seemed to be calling from my Bank, claiming some possible fraud etc. and showing up as the Bank’s number.

The basic and obvious bit was giving out account and sort code over the phone. A bank will never ask you for that. If OP hadn’t fallen at the first hurdle she wouldn’t have got to the OTP shenanigans.

But it’s not true that a bank will never call you. Fraud teams do ring to check outlier transactions. I ring back on the number on the card.

If a payment is frozen it might not show up in the pending payments, this is true. If the fraud team have flagged the payment as potential fraud and are investigating it, it might not show on the account.

Not true my hubby was scammed they took thousands and we got it back

This is why I hate Internet banking and banking apps.
My bank has previously called me and flagged payments that I then need to respond to. Which is fine great, I'd rather they stopped money going out than a scammer gets it, but then scammers also call you and also text you! Best thing would be to call them back yourself using the number on the card.
They also say don't share the number with anyone and we would not ask you for xyz but then at the bank when I was opening my account and she was setting things up she asked me for my Internet banking code? On the phone while trying to organise a replacement card I had to type in so many things! In a certain time etc etc I'd rather walk into the bank and do things face to face but not many banks locally, everything seems to be moving online etc
An older gentleman had a load of money taken from his account fraudulently, the bank even flagged it and called him themselves but even though they never spoke to him they let it go through even though he never authorised anything from 2 different banks. I would never bank with them ever again. I Closed my accounts with them.
While trying to get the accounts frozen and replacement cards bank was even worse wouldn't listen didn't help much. Main bank was a little better in freezing things but still haven't recovered the funds or prosecuted the fraudster even though they have proof! Been a few years now. Fraud action/police etc not done anything either. Maybe in a few more years they'll do something! But so many older people are having similar fraud happening with them when they go into hospital or care. By the time anyone does anything about it unfortunately many of the old people die. No justice at all. The whole time this was happening and we were trying to raise the alarm etc every other ad on the tube was elder fraud and elder abuse!