Just been scammed!

[FlyingBuddha]

I feel so stupid and so upset.

I got a phone call tonight from a private number and answered (first mistake) the guy on the other end sounded genuine and told me someone had tried to log into my Klarna account at 8am this morning, he asked if it was me, I said no I don’t remember doing so and started panicking I’d been hacked (oh the irony!) he then said he had sent me through a one time passcode and if I could let him know what it was he could then proceed in freezing my account and changing the details so no one else could enter who wasn’t me.
I said thanks and ended the call.
I did think it was odd, but because no bank details had been exchanged alarm bells didn’t initially ring.

About 5 minutes later I had five notifications in a row on my NatWest account of payments of £50.00 each from Klarna, totally £200, then another from them of £116.

I immediately called NatWest and they blocked and cancelled my card, said they will send me a new one with new pin, they have also said they can refund the money back to me too, but it’ll be in a few working days.
I then called Klarna and they have flagged the purchases (totally £600!) as fraud and I’m to call again for an update in a couple of days.

I am so upset at myself. I haven’t got £600 to lose, we are on a very low income and I’m struggling as it is.
I know it’s my own stupidity , but I am so frustrated. I literally watched the money leave my account every couple of minutes, I was shaking so much I could hardly call the NatWest number.

You poor thing OP.

Those absolute bastards. Absolute bastards.

Don't beat yourself up too much - it won't happen again as your guard will be up more and you're getting the money back which is the main thing.

I don’t have any super helpful advice but just to say - if anyone messages you saying they know how to get your money back, they are probably a scammer. Please ignore them.

Sending you hugs OP, you are not stupid at all - they’re so convincing these days. I hope you get the money back x

This makes me so angry.

They are very clever and psychological in how they scam you, so firstly do not blame yourself.

I know it feels horrendous, but remind yourself it will feel better soon, you'll hopefully get everything back, and it's 'only' money.

I'm glad your bank has been so good & that you'll be getting your money back.

Don't blame yourself, the utter cunts are so plausible & put you on the spot.

thank you for posting, it's a helpful reminder to all of us to be on the cunt lookout!!

Aww it can happen to anyone, these people are very clever. Don't be too hard on yourself, it's a lesson learnt
But one genuine question, how did he manage to get into your Klarna account? Were any more details given, or just your phone number and the code have told him?
That's all it took for him to get into your Klarna account?
Also, why didn't your bank send approval of payment before making any transaction? Mine does usually.

Hope you get your money back soon

I’m sorry that happened to you, they’re complete bastards.

I don’t understand how they’ve accessed your bank account though? Have they managed to clone your card somewhere? I don’t get how the scam works, I’m probably being a bit dim 😕 I’m very glad you got your money back.

You poor thing that’s so horrible, I’m glad you’ll get the money back

I wonder how all it takes is that passcode

@leojeojao

They do for most things, but they don’t seem to for Klarna, as long as you have the Klarna passcode which they contacted me for and I stupidly gave to them.

I have no idea how they got into my Klarna account first off. That’s the worrying part.
I’m now majorly worried it’ll happen again.

This is why I just don't answer unknown numbers anymore. If it's important they'll leave a message or call back, otherwise it was probably some fucker trying to scam me.

Sorry this happened OP, try not to beat yourself up too much about it, they know exactly which buttons to push to get you to give over what they want. It's actually shockingly easy to get into someone else's Klarna Account, their authentication is garbage. You sorted it straight away and will get the money back.

Never ever tell anyone your one time passcode.

Sorry this happened but I am also struggling to see how they accessed your account from what you have said. What details did you give them?

@PizzaNinja

They accessed my card through my Klarna account, as it’s connected to that card. So as soon as you make a payment on Klarna it goes through to my account.

So sorry this happened to you OP. They didn't get into your Klarna account initially, that code you provided was the reset code and let them gain entry to it. Never ever share OTP codes with anyone. I hope the bank recovers your money quickly.

@Ihatemondays1962

Just the one time passcode, I gave them nothing else.

As an aside, you might try using a service like Incogni as it seems at some point details of your account have been sold to a third party by a data broker. You can use incogni to send requests out to remove all your personal data from their records under GDPR law. I did it after someone managed to get into my eBay account, haven't had any issues with attempted scammers since.

I'm not an affiliate or anything, it's just a useful service if you find your accounts may have been compromised, and is quicker and easier than re-securing every online account you have manually.

You were really lucky to get through to Nat West so quickly. I waited for 50 mins in the queue for the TSB fraud team yesterday trying to help my Mum with a text scam. Glad I'm not with them.

So they somehow triggered Klarna to send a reset code to you, then called to ask for it

So bad. A good reminder to others

It doesn't take much they need a list of emails and phone numbers, make a purchase, ring up the victim at the same time for the OTP and it's done. It's so cruel in its simplicity.

Don't beat yourself up OP. I consider myself pretty savvy but almost got caught out by a TV Licence renewal scam email today. The only thing that saved me was that I couldn't immediately find my wallet with my payment card in and that stopped me just enough to check which email it had come from.

Don't feel bad OP it can happen to anyone! I worked in the fraud department and the majority of people who were victim to these sort of scams were young, tech savvy people. I think we do so much online now we don't think twice about keying in codes or clicking on links. Remember these people create the perfect scenario where they send you straight into panic mode, and know you will act hastily whilst vulnerable.

It's a good lesson and you will be diligent in the future!

I was scammed by a "tradesman" before and lost a fair whack of money, caught at a vulnerable time unable to close my front door. It's such a horrible feeling but I found talking to family about it helpful. I am now aware I need to take a step back and a deep breath before I act when I'm panicked.

Glad your bank is getting you sorted!

Payments are still pending this morning - I’m hoping when I called Klarna last night and they flagged it as fraud; so the payments won’t go out anyway.
But if they somehow do , NatWest have said they will refund within one working day.

A friend of mine was just scammed and a group of us were sat around talking about it last night, the conclusion was everyone will likely end up either a victim of a scam, identity theft or some other fraud eventually.

How did they have your email and phone number and how did they know you had a Klarna account?

Do you think it's someone who knows you?

It can so easily happen.
We're bombarded by fraudulent emails and calls all the time. Most are obvious but every now and then the right scam will get the right person at the right time (for the scam, not the person obviously).