Mumsnet users share their thoughts and experiences of financial fraud with Take Five

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Finding out that you’ve been a victim of a financial scam or fraud is never an easy thing to deal with. They can occur through varying methods such as via phone, email, text and/or post. With that being said Take Five want you to share your and/or your friends and family’s experiences of fraud or scams.

Here is what Take Five have to say: “Our research shows that many people do not feel confident that they could identify a fraudulent approach. Therefore the event will aim to empower and inspire parents to feel better prepared to ‘confidently challenge’ fraudsters, and recognise signs of fraud - remembering the mantra – My Money? My Info? I don’t think so."

Do you have an internal siren that goes off when you feel like something is a scam? Perhaps you’ve been scammed before and now know the best course of action to take? Or maybe you helped stop a family member from giving their bank details to someone you didn’t feel was genuine?

Whatever you or your family’s experiences of financial frauds and/or scams, write them on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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I'd say that I was quite savvy with spotting scams. However, I've had my Nectar card hacked and emptied and we don't know how they did it.

Despite googling to see if there have been any security breaches, I can't see how it happened. I had the card with me when it was "emptied".

I've gone through all my active online accounts changing passwords again, and deleting accounts on sites that I don't use any longer.

Nectar didn't even seem surprised when I reported it, so it makes me think it's more common than people realise.

I do worry about elderly parents falling for them too, I try and gently educate my mum but she can get up to anything on the internet so I just make sure she has a firewall and virus protection installed.

I get a lot of emails from paypal etc which I recognise as spam. However, I can see how it easy it is to be duped and more needs to be done.

I had my card scanned in a phone shop! they took over 2k!

If you receive an email asking you to update details via a link and which does not address you by name, delete it. If in doubt, visit the website independently.

I work in finance so I see a some e-mail and ransomware scams. If in doubt about a message or a phone call asking for payment, always politely decline and call the company on a number you trust

I think i'm pretty aware of scams and would never fall for one by email or phone although they do seem to get more sophisticated and convincing all the time.

I remember hearing on the radio news 'thousands of people have overpaid tax and are due a refund'. The next time i checked my emails there was a fraud email proclaiming to be from HMRC about the refund i'm due, obviously hoping to catch people who have heard the news who click hopefully. Timing can lower people's defences like in this case. I didn't click but i wonder how many would have.

I had my payment declined for a large purchase, then a call from the bank fraud team.

I had made a couple of big purchases close together (home renovation) and it flagged up to them as possible theft. I was pleased that they were looking out for me.

I had my card frauded a few years ago, I had no idea until the bank contacted me!
Now the main thing is emails I constantly have in my email that want to ‘give me money’ or fake amazon ones.

Trusting my instincts . It it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

I think I would be aware of the obvious scams - hopefully!

had my bank card cloned, they took a few hundred pounds. Awful experience trying to prove that i had not used the card, the card was used 150 miles away when i was at work.

My MIL, who is 81, received one of those African Prince e-mails, you know the usual whereby she should give her bank details in order for them to deposit so many hundreds of thousands into her account for letting them borrow it. She'd got as far as ringing me to ask me what the little numbers on the bottom of her bank card meant, as a nice young man needed her help. I explained to her she was being conned, and as soon as DH and I could, we signed her up for an IT for the grandparents class, which informed them of what to look for and how to spot scams, she found it so useful and often says to me, she can't believe how silly she feels and being taken in.

Sadly these days we have to be very careful with emails and phone calls but most are obvious, sadly some clever one's are not.

We have constant phone calls claiming that they want to help us with our recent car accident or bankrupcy, these may be legitimate insurance companies but I always think they must be crossing some kind of law to make up false information.

I really think that these people target the vulnerable people, especially the elderly generation who do not believe people would treat them so badly. My in-laws have been talked out of various 'wonderful' offers by us and have given details on one occasion so all their bank details had to be changed.

I don't have a contactless card. Also being very careful who with I share important details.

I always remember my parents taught me that "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" Although this phrase wasn't intended to protect against fraud, it does apply. For example, letters or emails claiming I have won x amount of money from a recent competition can't be true if I haven't entered a competition in the first place.

I am also wary of emails requesting any personal details - I recently received an email "from Paypal" wanting me to click the link & check some of my details. I wasn't sure about the authenticity of the email so opened a new tab on my computer and logged into PayPal as I normally would. I checked the FAQ and learned that, when PayPal contacts you, it addresses correspondence personally by name. As the email I had received was addressed in a generic manner, I knew that it couldn't be genuine, so reported if to PayPal and deleted the email without clicking on any links.

the emails that come through that you aren't sure if they are scam or not they are that good, I always go through the site rather than clicking the links

Having studied Cybercrime as part of my masters degree I'm incredibly cautious, but despite me trying to tell her to be careful, my Mum gave away her bank details to scammers over the phone. Luckily she got her money back, but it worries me so much!

Ive not been a victim, thankfully. I try to be aware, don't click on links unless I'm certain they're legit, protect my personal data. But I must admit I'm a bit lazy and don't shred addressed envelopes etc.
It annoys me the number of 'you've been pre-approved for a credit card' letters I get though, all with a half completed form I just have to sign and return. I always shred them.

Not scamming I guess but had my card cloned twice in different petrol stations inside as well. Also paypal hacked somehow, I don't use my phone or internet when about but someone ordered a load of protein foods in my name but to a different address the other end of the country! Thankfully money was returned quickly in all cases but for me the card is terrible it means I am without money for 7-10 days till a new one arrives, And I have no one I would ask to borrow it from, imagine if you needed to get some where quickly ?

I admit to being lazy with regard to this but promise to do better.

Just had a phone call today actually from a lady claiming to be technical support of my broadband supplier. I said, oh ok, who's my internet supplier? and she hung up

My DM has been caught out a couple of times, one time when she was at a cashpoint. This has made me much more wary using cashpoints, and I will avoid using them if I feel someone is getting too close. I will also avoid ones which appear to have been tampered with, as I have heard that has also been a trick fraudsters use.

I never open attachments from emails i dont know and if unsure i always google the email ad to make sure its genuine