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.

I had this last year with a Vinted scam, and lost €500. I couldn't get it back as my bank said I was at fault for giving them the code. I knew as soon as I did it that something was up and luckily reacted quickly before the scammers took more. I felt so stupid.

I hope you manage to get the money back.

Phone numbers and emails are easy to get. They buy lists of them. They have people working in genuine call centres stealing details. They then just phone up and say someone accessed your Klarna, it's probably a 50/50 chance that the person They phone will have Klarna or whatever they are saying has been accessed. They then rely on the panic that the account holder feels to get the pass code.

I had a kind of backwards version of this in that I suddenly started getting calls saying they were from one of my credit cards and thought there'd been an unusual transaction. It's not often I answer a number I don't know, but for some reason I did, and it was an automated message asking me to key in some details etc. I assumed this was a scam and ignored it, but was getting more calls from different unknown numbers so I finally answered. It turned out that they wanted to check a couple of my completely genuine transactions - which was fine - but they spoke to me as if I was trying to do something fraudulent, even though I was confirming I'd made them and was therefore happy to pay the statement when it came. It was very odd - they didn't seem to take on board my unease in answering at all. It was only when they were able to read out the exact sums they were querying that I realised they were legitimate. They implied I should be very grateful they believed me and consented to unblock my card (which I hadn't even noticed had been blocked).

I got this email from NatWest so I’m quite relieved, but as the money is still showing as pending, they can’t refund any money until it’s finished pending. That will apparently be one working day after the money is actually debited from my account.

I would appeal this. Speak to someone else at the bank, and appeal to the ombudsman, if needed.

Our bank refused to refund some money, when a card was skimmed, until they had investigated. My SiL was a bank manager (different bank) and said that's not right. We called our bank back, who apologised and said, yes, they shouldn't have told us they'd wait until they'd investigated, and refunded the money.

There was a programme on TV the other night, maybe Panorama, with how so many people are being scammed via their Revolut accounts.

I don’t know how that works, but it’s causing problems.

I never respond to phone calls, texts or emails. 🤷‍♀️

Thats fair. The company could cancel the transaction for any reason and the hold would be dropped so you’d get the money back right away. The bank need to make sure it actually leaves your account before they refund you, so you don’t get it twice.

@AwfullyWeeBillyBigchin I'm in a different country - different banking security rules. I stupidly approved a request through an online ID platform, when I hadn't initiated the request. So I really should have known better.... Sucks, but the bank won't budge on it.

Yes, you've changed your email password right? And the answers to any security questions? And set up two factor authentication for your email account?

I would also change your bank password just in case.

And anything else they could have potentially accessed through your email, and anything where you've used the same password.

Also, wherever you have the option to authenticate through an official authenticator app, like Google's, choose that option instead of a text. Text messages are one of the most insecure forms of communication.

They're scum. I'm so sorry

You may feel daft but in actual fact, I for one am grateful that you posted this as some of us (myself included) could have fallen for this scam. By sharing your experience you've made us aware of it, so thank you x

that’s what I tried to say, I was scammed by an Indian call centre but my comment was removed

Never ever give out a OTP x

This website you can put your email in and it will tell you if it has been compromised and where. My work email was showing on there and my mums from a kids app she downloaded for my daughter when she was small.

haveibeenpwned.com/

It's soooo easily done. I got a call from "my bank" and I just said I was sorry, in the middle of work and could they call back later. The guy then told me to "f*ck off". I contacted the bank later and asked "did you call me because it was either a scam or your guys need retraining". Total scam. The scary thing is I'd lost my wallet (/had it stolen) the week before, so I was actually "expecting" a fraud call.

Also, this:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lz049zRFhw0

Ah, that's crap. I did wonder if you weren't in the UK.

Omg this happened to me too. On the 17th October (my birthday) I was reluctant handing over the with code and went in my Klarna and signed out and in. But they still did an order for 150 Asda and 2 x £50 and then paid all my Klarna off which was my money for the month (food and petrol and school money single working mum of 2) as I had only just got a sofa on buy now and pay over 12 months. I think they did this to try and get more credit) I still haven’t got my money back. I have spoken with Halifax and NatWest so fingers crossed 🤞🏾. I hope you’re ok. X

Well I was once scammed by someone pretending to be my bank and even the hold music was the same. They were asking questions as part of their “new security checks” and had answers for everything.

When my email was hacked, they changed my password to lock me out
The first place they went to was PayPal to try to take cash from there
Then Amazon. As you say you have your card stored there.
Luckily I blocked the former and had 2fa on Amazon

They used Netflix and eBay to pay for things abroad but I was instantly given that money back so presume that was their poor controls

It's horrible

The only defence I would suggest with calls is either not to answer unknown numbers, or answer but pause before speaking. Scam and marketing calls often then auto hang up thinking it's an answering machine

You can use this site:
https://haveibeenpwned.com
to check if your email/phone number have appeared in a data breach.
Do not share passwords across different accounts because then if they have one, they can get into others.
Make sure you use complex passwords or even better use a passkey/yubikey and go passwordless!
Glad you’re getting your money back OP.

Also, use multifactor authentication where you can!

We've had a version of this with my Gran and O2 a few years ago, but they didn't intercept the phone (brand new Samsung fold thing) and it took me almost a year to get O2 to take enough interest to send me a bag to return it. Once they'd cancelled the account they had seemingly no interest in the actual phone even though no one had paid for it and it was just an admin nightmare for me - slightly wish I'd sold it and kept the money tbh 🫠

The gall is incredible but I also wish I'd seen this particular scammer's reaction when the gates wouldn't open and interception of the parcel wasn't possible due to security setup there.

I got called twice from someone claiming to be from klarna and wanted to discuss some transactions that didn't look right. The last one being a few hours ago. Honestly, they are so convincing! It's only because of the way they kept repeating my name that I thought maybe they're trying to record me saying yes and no etc to access my online banking that I paused. But I reached out to klarna the first time and they said they will never call about things like this.

You aren't to blame

I was scammed out of 450 in August and this was in person, by a rogue trader. So these things can happen to anyone

Don't blame yourself, OP.

I was nearly scammed through my Monzo account a couple of years ago. I had noticed three or four very small transactions that I hadnt made - a couple of dollars in Uber, a few more in a bar. Thing is, they were all in NYC and I was firmly in the UK!

Reported them to the bank through the app, all sorted. Then I got a call from someone purportedly from Monzo telling me that my account had been compromised again and I needed to take urgent action. I was suspicious from the start ... Monzo never calls. Then I heard a baby cry in the background. I said 'youre not really from Monzo are you?''. He said 'Fuck you!' and put the phone down!

I have no idea to this day how my bank details and landline number were compromised. And I'm now very careful to not reuse passwords.