One UK scam you should look out for
Fraud and scams are big business for criminals. In 2020 alone the UK public lost £479 million pounds to bank transfer or ‘authorised push payment’ (APP) scams. In 2021, those figures are unfortunately likely to rise significantly.
How can you make sure you don't lose money to a scam? One tip is to look out for the most common scams, as scammers often repeat what they know works for them. There are many different approaches that they take, including:
Purchase scams where they trick you into buying something that doesn't exist
Investment scams where they sell you a great investment that turns out to be a fraud
Romance scams where they contact you on social media/dating websites and after becoming close to you, ask you to send them money
But one of the most common and trickiest ones to spot is an impersonation scam, where the scammers pretend to be the banks or the police. This is happening everyday, and in 2020 the UK public lost almost £100 million to impersonation scams alone.
There is one approach that the criminals use over and over again, and this is it!
Your Account is Under Attack!
What is it and how does it work?
You’re contacted by someone claiming to be from your bank, usually by a phone call, and they tell you that your account is under attack or has been hacked. It may be under attack by a fraudster who is trying to steal your money, or in that they are trying to make purchases.
Sometimes (unknown to you!) they will attempt to complete purchases online using your card details that they have obtained, meaning that you receive a text showing the attempted transactions on your phone. In most situations they tell you to check the number they are calling from, and when you look at this you see it is the bank's number. Don’t be fooled, it is relatively easy to ‘spoof’ the number of another person or organisation.
They then tell you that the only way to stop and prevent these transactions from going through is to send your money to a new account that is ‘safe’. They may even call it a ‘safe account’.
Once they think they have convinced you of the urgency of the situation, the scammers will then try one of two approaches to getting your money:
If they have managed to get enough of your personal information to access your account, they will tell you they are sending you a text message with a code on it. They will tell you this code is to protect you and/or to send the money to the new ‘safe account’ or;
If they don't have enough of your information to access your account, the scammers will tell you that they can set up the new account for you, but that only you can complete a bank transfer of your money. They will make up various reasons for this, such as ‘the bank’s policies’ or ‘management policies’. They will give you your new sort code and number and ask you to send your funds via bank transfer.
What should I do?
If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be your bank’s fraud department, just hang up on them. Find a trusted number on their legitimate website and call them, explaining what has just happened. If it was a legitimate call, they won’t mind that you took precautions.
Don’t send money out of your account as your bank shouldn't ever ask you to do this, and don't disclose any codes to anyone.
Can I get my money back from a bank transfer?
If you’ve lost money to a bank transfer scam, Refundee may be able to help you get your money back from your bank. Refundee can manage your case for you, as an FCA regulated claims management company. If you’d like us to do this for you, start the process by filling out our scam refund claim form. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case. Find out more about our fees here.
Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.
