FIL has been scammed

[ChocolateFace]

I don't have all the details, as he's reluctant to talk about it.

I know it started off as a fake Royal Mail you need to pay £2 for this parcel text, and has ended up with £2000 being taken out of his account, although there seems to be a lot more to it he's not telling us. He says the bank knows where the money has been paid to, but there's no guarantee they can get it back.

Anybody know the chances of the bank getting it back?

Probably very slim. Are the police involved?

Very slim chance, the bank are aware and they will investigate it so fingers crossed he'll get something back. It's a very clever scam, lots of people got caught out at Christmas with the Dpd scam doing a similar thing. I worked in a bank call centre at the time so aware how many people were filling out the details.

I don't think the police have been informed (would the bank do that?)

I did get a very sharp "I don't want to keep going over it!" response, when I asked what happened, as I think going through it with the bank was quite challenging for him.

Make a complaint to the bank and then take the complaint to the financial ombudsman. If the case meets certain 'tests', they'll tell the bank to refund him. Don't take the banks first answer as their final one

@StylishMummy - that's interesting, do you know what should put in to Google to find out more?

There’s so much of this about! I’m so sorry, OP, what a a worry!
I had a RM text a few days ago, stating that they were

‘unable to retrieve payment of the shipping fee for your package. Please visit http....’

Didn’t have a package, didn’t care. Blocked the number and googled the scam. Told friends and family to be aware. I can imagine things like this tricking many people. I hope he gets his money back, poor chap.🤞🏻

He (or you) needs to report it to the police and Action Fraud www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Make as much noise as you can with his bank - someone local to me had this happen to their elderly mother and the bank did refund all the money in the end.

@ChocolateFace you're welcome to PM me - I work in this industry

Ah, that’s rubbish. He will be feeling embarrassed though so I’m not sure what benefit in pushing too much, unless you think he hasn’t got a grasp on what the bank is saying and what happens next? How old is he?

It can happen to anyone - a lot of scams are very convincing.

perhaps he might talk to your spouse about it rather than you. he's probably feeling vert embarrassed about it and would rather it all goes away.

I know someone who was scammed, slightly different circumstances. Bank wasn't interested as the person had authorised the withdrawal (albeit under fraudulent circumstances). The police became involved and it was transferred to the fraud squad. Eventually she got her money back.

My dh received a similar text. He was very ill in hospital and worrying about a payment for a parcel. Luckily he mentioned this to me and didn't click on the link.

I searched so came across the Royal Mail scam reported in several papers. As mentioned in the article clicking on the link leads you to a site which looks like a legitimate Royal Mail site.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/royal-mail-scam-fraud-text-message-b1815723.html

The CTSI is encouraging anyone who receives such a message to report it to the police’s Action Fraud service.

I started a thread about that text a couple of days back! Very convincing.

Just to updated- FIL showed DH a letter for the bank which states he should be refunded the money within 45 days. DH has said if the money isn't refunded then he needs to make a complaint (info on Citizens Advice website). It seems it's a convincing scam and not just something which happened because he wasn't on the ball.

I nearly fell for the dpd one at Christmas! But if you think about it, delivery companies and Royal Mail don’t have mobile numbers, why would they? You don’t put it on when you post something. It’s amazing how many of us forget that bit!

Glad he’s getting the money back.

There is a HSBC scam going round atm. Text msg from a mobile phone advising that someone has tried to withdraw money from your account. Convincing clicky link provided.

Just heard scammers have started putting dpd cards through doors now!