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

[JustineBMumsnet]

This activity is closed

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

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

[purplepandas]

Our bank is great and recently stopped dodgy attempts with DH' s card. I am sceptical and use Snopes as a previous poster said. Scammers are so clever though . Also wary of opening emails and phone numbers I don't know.

[papaver]

Was looking on eBay for stocking fillers last week and clicked on a product to see full details but instead it caused eBay to close down and a new window to appear which said my computer had been infected with a virus and my bank details were at risk so I should run this software. I am certain it was a scam, closed the window immediately and ran my own virus checker as a back-up but it looked very professional - lots of the right logos etc and it is the first time I have had anything like this happen while using eBay so would be interested to know if anybody has had similar experience.

[littlebillie]

I had my credit card details stolen they bought Nike in American fortunately I got my money back it was very upsetting as a lot of money at the time.

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

I have always been very cynical anyway, brought up not to believe everything you see/read or hear, and I think that has helped me with this as an adult. If I get an unexpected email from a company that I use,my suspicions are immediately raised, I then look for 3 things -
Does it address me by name
Does it include a link to check suspicious behaviour on account (or similar)
Are there any spelling or grammatical errors
What email address has it been sent from

If I can't be sure I will open my account without clicking through from email and check that all looks ok. If it's a company I don't use then it just gets deleted straight away

[Caillou]

Always check the email address of the sender, scammer pretend to be from a company but if you check the full email address it is usually a random number with a public domain.

[VivienneWestwoodsKnickers]

I've recently discovered that someone has been claiming benefits in my name! I only found out when I had reason to check my National Insurance on the HMRC website, and looked through the history. It showed this up, and on ringing them they were adamant I had claimed them.

I had to write to them to prove who I was, and explain how it couldn't have been me (no kids, full time job, no entitlement to working tax credits, HMRC should be able to see my earnings during this period etc).

They have now confirmed I was a victim of identity theft and removed the link to my NI record.

I am also very aware of online scams, and will admit to getting frustrated with all the Facebook pages that purport to be giving away a car, a cruise, an iPad etc. "Our last winner didn't pick up their prize, so we're offering it again". There is no prize, they are harvesting your data to sell!!

[Quietvoiceplease]

Great event, thank you.
My takeaway piece of advice was to literally 'take five'. Often the mistakes I think are when we click without thinking, and to stop and reflect is probably the safest thing: to listen to one's internal voice.
I've had fraudulent activity on my credit card more than once, and I don't know how is happened, but I also shop online a lot and so my details are out in the ether, and it is impossible to know how safely other organisations keep my data (I think mumsnet know that risk very well).
I also try not to panic too much about it. All the fraud on my cards has been refunded, so I suppose I haven't had to suffer the consequence. The cases I hear of identity fraud strike me as much more problematic and upsetting.

[AWholeLottaRosie]

We have a call- blocker on our phone so we never get scam phone calls or even just ordinary cold calls.
I check our bank account and credit card transactions every single day and never, ever click on links in emails.

Many years ago DH was scammed on eBay for just over £200 and I can still remember how sick we both felt when we realised. He couldn't get the money back so it was a lesson learned.

Not so much scams for cash but those data-gathering ones on Facebook are so annoying, "We have 15 motorhomes to give away, we can't sell them because they're last year's models". Or the ones that you must copy and paste to show awareness of cancer/ suicide/ dementia.

[Goldenphoenix]

We had to change my Grandma's phone number as she was receiving a huge number of dodgy sounding calls asking for her bank details, they were really bullying and pressuring her. She was lucky she has a large, close family but many other elderly people aren't so lucky sadly.

[voyager50]

Someone hacked into my mobile phone account and got the password, phoned up and said they had my permission to call, ordered a new phone to be sent to an address hundreds of miles away from me and my current phone was cut off.

My stepdad was in hospital at the time and nearly died and I had no way to contact him as I was out when I realised I had no phone signal.

It was awful and the phone company were not at all helpful or sympathetic.

[Teddygirlonce]

About 15 years ago, just at this time of the year, someone managed to empty our 'household' bank account (just after payday) on a 24 hour jolly in Europe (judging by the transactions that showed on a bank statement). Luckily we got it sorted out very quickly but it was still a total shock, particularly as I'm very, very careful about destroying 'ID' related paperwork and even where I use cashpoints (generally inside banks or in indoor shopping centres where opportunities to tamper would be quickly noted). I got a bit paranoid, thinking that mums at toddler groups could be responsible . The bank never told me where my card had been 'skimmed' but I reckon it was either at a cashpoint machine outside a station (which I was forced to use, much against my better judgement, in an emergency situation) or via the massive TK Maxx card details leak that they didn't own up to for about five years???

Increasingly, phishing emails are getting more and more sophisticated. And the HMRC ones always do look very convincing. Had lots from PayPal too.

I am naturally cautious/suspicious by nature so always delete them. However, I can see that one's only got to be caught in a moment of weakness/tiredness to be duped. It could happen to anyone.

However, now we almost have an overly vigilant banking service. I had my card blocked - for potentially fraudulent activity - for a £4 payment for Movie Star Planet for DC2 (even though I'd paid for a month's subscription previously). WTF!

[DaddyfingerAnnihilation]

I also receive loads of spam emails claiming to be from PayPal, Amazon, Natwest etc but I'm always careful to check the sender's email address as it's usually sent from a gmail account or yahoo etc.

[MargoLovebutter]

My elderly aunt was phoned by someone saying they were from Microsoft and they needed to check the settings on her computer, as they'd been getting messages that she had a virus on her Microsoft software. They told her to log on and gave her a link and code to put in and then said they'd need her bank card details, as the issue was so severe, it would take them ages to sort it out. She gave them her bank details, they took £150 and put the phone down.

I feel that much more needs to be done to help the older generation who may not be so tech savvy and help them be aware of how to protect themselves from scammers like this. I know my aunt said that lots of her friends had been duped with very similar scams.

[EasterRobin]

I never click on links in emails claiming to be from PayPal, Amazon, my bank, etc. I always go directly to the website in case the email is a fake.

[Roomba]

My ex had his credit card cloned at a local, family owned and run petrol station. It absolutely had to be there, as it was a brand new card and he had only used it once ever in the petrol station, a week or so before a couple of small charges then a few £100+ online purchases appeared. All refunded after he reported it and filled a form in, but shocked us at the time given we knew the staff in there (small village). Didn't buy petrol there again!

I had a card intercepted somehow in the post and they tried to buy things online with it - they were thwarted somewhat as I was already over my overdraft limit so they got nothing out of it. Barclays alerted me and replaced my card within a couple of days.

My parents, who are in their 70s, got the fright of their lives last year when they had over £25,000 stolen from their recently opened savings account. They did not have online banking or telephone banking set up, had received all their documentation in the post fine (so nothing intercepted) and go into their branch to do absolutely everything banking wise. They don't even use ATMs.

My mother was utterly distraught thinking they'd lost their life savings and would have to sell their house - she told me she was considering suicide as she couldn't bear to lose her home . Santander refunded their money after investigating for a long, tense week. It transpired someone had added another name as a joint account holder somehow (no one they'd ever heard of, in a town they'd never been) then transferred their money out. So either Santander's systems were hacked by an outsider, or it was staff fraud, as there was no other possible explanation. My mother still hasn't quite recovered mentally tbh.

[Trenzalor]

I get lots of phishing emails so I have the spoof reporting emails saved and forward anything that I’m not sure of. NEVER click on a link! Always go in through a legimate website.

[perfectstorm]

Had a phone call from someone who knew my name and said there was a problem with the payment for Netflix, and I needed to make a catchup payment or the account would be suspended. I was all set to pay, and then remembered that my name isn't attached to the account; my husband's is. I made an excuse and hung up, and to date haven't had any further dodgy contact, but it's made me twitchy.

The phone number in question isn't attached to any of my social media accounts, and nor do I give it when buying things online. I have no idea how they got it, given they knew my name. It scared me because of the level of detail they seem to have when targeting you, which sets the approach apart from the standard emails claiming to be from Paypal/a bank/HMRC, which aren't personalised.

I'm going to be wary from now on even if emails ARE personalised. If they can get a phone number and a name, then they can get an email and a name, too.

[Hopezibah]

it's just so scary the new ways people come up with to scam others- i suppose even with all the new technology there is a lot to be said for just basic common sense and being wary of giving out details.

[Havetohaveanewchufffingaccount]

I wish I knew more about this. But I do ask my husband if I am unsure of website etc

[Mummychoochoo3]

I worry about this type of thing always. If a Web page looks dodgy I stay away. I delete unknown weird text messages and always query where did they get my details from.

[TroubleInSnowland]

It’s getting harder and harder to avoid scams as the scammers are becoming cleverer. I try not to click on any emails from people I don’t know. I rarely answer the phone if I’m not expecting calls and divert everything through the answering machine. I also try not to share too much data on social media and have my profile set as private as possible.
I have had several scam email from Apple, HMRc etc but I can usually pick out errors in grammar or odd spelling mistakes. I usually do a google search and identify the scam.

[Snafflebrain]

I have an online business and whilst I think I’m reasonably tech literate I’m still worried one day I might make a mistake and fall for a scam. The house buying / solicitor email scam is the one that worries me most as I don’t know how I would recover from that kind of scam and financial loss

[OhThisbloodyComputer]

I've found that PayPal is a dreadful organisation to deal with if anything goes wrong

There is nobody to talk to whatsoever.

There is an online complaints system, which involves cutting and pasting in your bank statement records (or even typing them in!) which, invariably, crashes and asks you to repeat the measure.

There is a massive amount of effort involved and all you are dealing with is a Netbot. I have been told that the Netbots take forever to intervene and when they do they simply freeze your account, which isn't much good to anyone.

I know this as I had to try to resolve a problem my daughter was having with her newly opened debut bank account. Neither Santander nor Paypal were any help at all.

Someone has set up a standing order on PayPal, which was repeatedly bouncing and then being represented, then bouncing, then being represented (and so on..) Each time of course Santander would levy an admin fee.

This seems like the biggest scam ever.

All banks make their money from penalty charges, so they deliberately make everything seem as simple as possible, but create endless hidden traps which send people into admin hell. It's massively frustrating and meanwhile my daughter, who is 16 and didn't understand that banks are underhand scumbags, was traumatized.

[brizigo]

I've had my PayPal account hacked and after sorting it out closed it - it was a nightmare!

[Holliewantstobehot]

I never open any emails from anyone I don't know, especially financial ones. I also don't answer my phone to any number that looks like a sale call. You have to be so careful. I also don't have contactless on my card. I know it's only small amounts but even that could cause me problems.