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Original poster

Scammed by HSBC fake text

73 replies

albairlanda · 09/01/2021 18:47

I've been scammed tonight by have text asking me to confirm if a new payee was set up by me. They payee in msg wasn't so I clicked link, logged in online through secure key online and followed instructions to cancel the payee and the payment. I was sure I'd just stopped fraud. Moments later I got msg to say I was in overdraft. Knew then I'd been scammed. Called bank and they said 4 payments had been sent out of my account totalling £1460. They've now suspended my net banking. It's weekend so fraud team not in and it will be out of hours fraud team who will look at it. The person I spoke to couldn't guarantee I'd get my money back as hasn't spoken to fraud directly to confirm but said they'd start an investigation. When I called action fraud to report formally they also said the bank sometimes can get it back, sometimes they can't. I thought they'd have to protect my money anyway and get me my funds back. I'm beside myself now that they might not be able to as arghhh. Wondering what other people experience is.

OP posts:

doctorhamster · 09/01/2021 18:50

I'm so sorry op the people who do this are absolute fuckers.

I had the same text but don't bank with hsbc. I would definitely have thought it was authentic if I did though.

Hawkins001 · 09/01/2021 18:51

This is not much help, now this happen, however whenever you get any texts or emails, make a note especially if you have an account ect then go direct too the company rather than through the text message ect, that said from cases I've seen sometimes it's considered and error on your part and once the cash is in the caymens ect it's in the wind, other times the bank has been able too recover the funds, so it could be 50/50

IDoAllMyOwnStunts · 09/01/2021 18:54

I’ve had the same a few months ago. From someone purporting to be NatWest.
I was so hopeful I’d get my money back but NATWEST refused and said I’d not took appropriate measures to protect my account and was partly to blame.

I’m now going through the Financial Ombudsman to complain and try to get the decision reversed.

IDoAllMyOwnStunts · 09/01/2021 18:56

Feel for you - I couldn’t sleep properly for ages after. I felt so stupid.

sanityisamyth · 09/01/2021 18:57

I had similar this time last year for £2450. It took weeks of phone calls and e-mails to my bank and in the end they refunded me in full. I was very very lucky. I don't know if they got their money back from the other bank.

Good luck.

Original poster

albairlanda · 09/01/2021 19:00

Oh god. I'm 10 weeks pregnant. I'm going to be so stressed out waiting to find out if they'll give this back. I feel so stupid

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 09/01/2021 19:01

Sorry that you’ve been caught out by this OP but I think the recommended advice is never to follow links but log in via the usual channels .

hotpotlover · 09/01/2021 19:06

I'm so sorry this happened. We all try to be wise about those things, but sometimes they seem so convincing and when life gets busy and we're stressed we are more susceptible to being scammed and taken advantage of.

So sorry xx

MindGrapes · 09/01/2021 19:06

I got this text today. The link was very obviously not from the hsbc website.

Sorry you got scammed - hope it all works out

JWrecks · 09/01/2021 19:18

@Hawkins001

This. If I ever get any kind of text or email about anything to do with money, I leave it alone and go directly to the bank/company website, meaning I literally type in bankname(dot)com straight into my browser's address bar. If there really is something that I need to address, it will be there. If it's not there, I can report (if possible), change passwords, etc.

I suppose that's a habit left over from the early days of the internet when every bloody link in every bloody email was some sort of horrible scam or virus, but it's not a bad habit to have, IMO.

Sorry, I know it's too little too late as it's done now, but I hope that's useful info for the future or for others reading this.

I do hope you can get your money back! It's definitely possible, so don't lose hope just yet!

Oh, and if you haven't already, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD IMMEDIATELY! Change it for your bank as well as anywhere else you may use the same password!

Heyahun · 09/01/2021 19:22

Oh gawd :(

Always just log in via the actual app never through a link texted or emailed!! Too late now for this advice like others said!

Hopefully you can get the money back x

nervalslobster · 09/01/2021 19:22

This happened to my daughter a few months ago - she banks with Santander. The first woman she spoke to about it was most unhelpful, almost blaming her. They seemed to change their tune after we drafted an email and cc'ed it to Money Saving Expert, and Guardian Money. She got her money back (£2000).
The banks really need to up their game with this type of fraud. It causes so much stress and worry.

DoYouRememberTheInnMiranda · 09/01/2021 19:25

How can the banks up their game? Isn't it carried out when the customer inputs details into the scam website? What can the bank do to prevent the customer falling for it?

MindGrapes · 09/01/2021 19:26

@nervalslobster

This happened to my daughter a few months ago - she banks with Santander. The first woman she spoke to about it was most unhelpful, almost blaming her. They seemed to change their tune after we drafted an email and cc'ed it to Money Saving Expert, and Guardian Money. She got her money back (£2000). The banks really need to up their game with this type of fraud. It causes so much stress and worry.

Genuinely, what do you expect them to do other than to keep reiterating that you should only log in via their proper website/app? If someone texts someone else telling them to go to a different website and hand over their bank details, what can the bank do about it?

LunaBiscuit · 09/01/2021 19:27

I fell for exactly the same text scam.
Hsbc said they would try to get the money back from the other bank but the request for the transfer reversal was rejected and they told me there was nothing else they could do,
I was sure I'd be covered and the bank would have to give me my money back because it was fraud but because I was stupid enough to fall for the scam and not triple check the site I was signing into, even though everything looked identical, it was apparently my own fault that I was scammed.

I went to the financial ombudsman but after an investigation they sided with hsbc and I'm left with no recourse and massively out of pocket.

It's a very difficult lesson to learn.

I really hope you have better luck than I did.

MrsMop1964 · 09/01/2021 19:29

Had the same text this week. I don't bank with HSBC so I just deleted it but I had to read it twice...I can see how easy it'd be to fall for it when you're busy. Hope you can get the money back

MindGrapes · 09/01/2021 19:34

I don't think you'd need to triple-check the url, just single-check. If it was the same as mine it was something like "approve-info.link"

Ch3rish · 09/01/2021 19:35

@LunaBiscuit

I fell for exactly the same text scam. Hsbc said they would try to get the money back from the other bank but the request for the transfer reversal was rejected and they told me there was nothing else they could do, I was sure I'd be covered and the bank would have to give me my money back because it was fraud but because I was stupid enough to fall for the scam and not triple check the site I was signing into, even though everything looked identical, it was apparently my own fault that I was scammed.

I went to the financial ombudsman but after an investigation they sided with hsbc and I'm left with no recourse and massively out of pocket.

It's a very difficult lesson to learn.

I really hope you have better luck than I did.

I've had this one quite a few times, I don't really see how the bank can be blamed as they tell you endlessly to be careful about this type of thing.

No help to you OP but maybe it will help others to avoid losing money, there are some terrible criminals around

MindGrapes · 09/01/2021 19:38

I'd love to know if these scammers are ever caught, and how much money they manage to make from it. Hopefully this thread might prevent someone else being scammed.

Reminds me a bit of this comic... (no offence meant to you, OP, just tickled me!)

rainbowunicorn · 09/01/2021 19:44

All the people saying that the banks need to up their game etc . It is not the banks fault that people fall for these scams . Every bank tells you repeatedly to never click on a link in a text or email if you do then it is not their fault when you lose your money

custardbear · 09/01/2021 19:46

Sis sorry you've been duped OP - never click, just call next time - but get the number from the internet not from the text

AvoidingRealHumans · 09/01/2021 19:50

This is awful, I hope the bank can reimburse you.
I had a text like this not too long ago that looked real, even came from Natwest and one of those texts that you can't reply to.
I thankfully noticed that they had it as NATWEST when its actually NatWest but very nearly fell for it.
Horrible bastards that do this type of thing.

LunaTheCat · 09/01/2021 19:51

I am in intelligent woman with a professional qualification and I got scammed - fortunately got my money back.
You just have to be in a not good space, be stressed and easy mistake to make. The scammers are clever and very convincing - I am so sorry.💐

user1471464702 · 09/01/2021 19:53

Amazon prime renewal spoof tv license and PayPal also common be careful

user1471464702 · 09/01/2021 19:55

I did -? too distracted and clicked link on PayPal page or so I thought it looked exactly the same but url dodgey as looked afterwards and did get a refund they have tried numerous ways since then about 4 times a year it’s grim

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