Bank Scam - Beware

[piglette]

This is nothing to do with PMR but I just wanted to warn people about a very impressive scam I had today. They said my bank account had been compromised and I needed to inform Action Fraud and to fill in the genuine form while I was on the phone. Part of the form had notes and they told me to fill in my bank info and then to read it back to them!!! Really clever. You just tell them your bank info with no effort from them at all except for a phone call. It was at this point I got suspicious and said I needed to check with the bank. We had a row when I accused the guy of being a scammer. He did not lose his cool and ensured me he was a bank employee with an English accent. I was very impressed. BEWARE!!

[HeronNS]

If these people would only direct their ingenuity towards bettering the lot of humanity instead of cheating people, the world would be a much better place.

One day, returned from a walk and discovered husband in the process of giving out bank info to a fraudster. He'd already given them some info regarding credit card (he "can't remember" what) so I told him to hang up and check his bank account and call the CC company himself. Upshot was they froze his card, issued him a new one with a new number. And I have given him several lectures, including enacting several scenarios, and reminding him that it was in much the same way that my stepmother was defrauded of almost all her money, a not inconsiderable sum.

I told him to hang up and call the CC company within earshot of the telephone, then disconnected him, so they probably heard me. Immediately afterwards there was a non-stop string of calls coming from variations of an area code not ours, until I took phone off hook for a while.

I can relate this to PMR actually, because the stepmother thing was the start of a string of stressful events over a few years which culminated in a PMR diagnosis after rather a long period of suffering.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

Well I suppose they are bettering the lot of a section of humanity - themselves!!!!

[Darkchocolate1 in reply to HeronNS]

I have accused legitimate callers a few times of being a scam. Better safe than sorry. There are so many ways they try to trick us. We receive multiple emails daily that are scams. Just delete delete delete.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Don't banks remind us repeatedly they will not phone us? I though it was text alerts to contact them on their fraud number which is online and on cards?

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

But they do phone us!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

Mine doesn't - I get a text, asking if I recognise this acton. If not, to contact them on the number on my cards or online. or via digital banking using my security stuff.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

Mine doesn’t. I don’t give them my mobile number. A US bank. The guy had a British accent though.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

That should raise suspicions - most of mine are Indians! I feel happy when the number is Edinburgh though even then it seems to be mainly Spaniards!

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

Most are Indians round here too. They have obviously realised that a normal British accent is preferable!

[123-go in reply to PMRpro]

🤭

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

Perhaps you should inform your bank that you want to be contacted by message or email only, not telephone. It probably would be easier as you are in different time zones!

[piglette in reply to DorsetLady]

I would quite like them to phone in the case of fraud. Where I made a mistake was that they blocked their phone number and it did not raise a red flag.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

But they can message you if something untoward occurs -you can reply and then they phone you if you prefer… you know then the phone call is not a scam.

[piglette in reply to DorsetLady]

I really don’t use my mobile except for WhatsApp and usually forget to carry it with me. I am old fashioned and like land line phone calls.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

😊

[Countrykitten in reply to piglette]

Our credit card company do phone. I've often been grateful for their viligance. When my husband was working he was often abroad. They recognised the places he usually visited and if a transaction appeared from somewhere he hadn't been before they would ring me and ask where he was. They did actually spot fraudulent activity a couple of times when he was thousands of miles away!

[Bennijax in reply to piglette]

are you outside the UK? the UK banks will not call.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Bennijax]

piglette is in the UK bank isUS based…

[piglette in reply to Bennijax]

Their fraud departments will phone, even in UK apparently.

[Charlie1boy]

Thank you for that information. Forewarned etc!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

A useful article: How to spot fraud before it happens.

stories.td.com/ca/en/articl...

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I have been a scam nerd for twenty years and this was a good one. I did all the things suggested in the link. The clever bit was they asked me to fill in an Action Fraud website form which was perfectly genuine and then asked me to read back the information so they could check and ensure I had filled in the form correctly and being really helpful and friendly. Very impressive. They never asked for anything they just ask you to read out what I had written. I do agree I did have a row and accused them of being a scammer, but they kept their cool and tried to say they were just trying to help me. 9 out of 10 as a scammer I would say.

[Bennijax in reply to piglette]

All calls saying they are your bank,investment manager, etc etc ARE SCAMS. Period. If there really is a problem the bank will find other ways to notify you.

However best thing is to assume all these calls are from scammers. If you are worried, then contact the bank via your banking app, or call the Fraud line for your bank. And BE CAREFUL to do this from a DIFFERENT phone than the one the scammers are calling you on. They know how to keep the line on which you receive their call open, pretending then to be your bank, it is nuts.

Further scam on its way to you if you have not already experienced it is a text message to your mobile phone saying it is from your son/daughter, calling you Mum, saying they have lost or had their phone stolen and are using a friends mobile number, please call them on this number. DON'T! These people are evil predators. Keep your self safe. Doing Nothing is the best thing you can do when facing unsolicited phone calls or text message.

[piglette in reply to Bennijax]

I did assume a call from the fraud department at my bank a while back was a scam and it wasn’t! They say they don’t phone you, but it seems they do if it is a case of fraud.

I was suspicious of this guy when he first phoned, but as I had had the same problem genuinely before I went along with it. When he asked me to read out my bank details I had written down to confirm I had got it right (he was being ‘helpful’ - and clever!) was the point that I accused him of being a scammer. It was quite amusing all the reasons he gave to prove he wasn’t.

[HeronNS]

Here is another not specifically PMR thing, although it's very important to all older people in the UK, (and I strongly suspect elsewhere) and especially people who have "pre-existing conditions" like PMR:

okdoomer.io/let-them-eat-ol...

[piglette in reply to HeronNS]

I reckon there are many scams that are not reported.

[Bennijax in reply to HeronNS]

Your link is not from an official source, or from a respected news outlet such as The Guardian.

[HeronNS in reply to Bennijax]

Just wondering if you read the item and followed the links at least some of which led to releases from the NHS which prove the point?

I do trust the person who shared the post, have followed her for some time, and her assertions are backed up. I doubt she would have shared anything false.

I did feel uneasy about sharing, but because I was afraid of reactions such as your's, not because I doubt the fact checking Jessica Wildfire and Nate Bear do before they post in their respective blogs.

As our provincial department of public health has basically been awol for about 18 months, barring occasionally releasing a new vaccine, or further dropping protections in the face of increasing illnesses, many of us have turned to other places to get information and are well aware of the misinformation that's out there and vet everything.

[Bennijax in reply to HeronNS]

Yes, I understand.

[SheffieldJane]

There are so many villains around - even legitimate companies try to trick you into buying things, you have to really treat every transaction with caution on-line. Glad you didn’t fall for it piglette, it’s upsetting.

[Ozziedays]

There’s another one where they tell you they are from O2 and are phoning to offer you 40% cheaper deals. I can’t remember the details exactly but they get you to give them your two factor verification code (that O2 texts you when you log in to your account) as proof of ID then they get into your account, change your address, and order themselves new phones, iPads etc. My other half fell for it as they called him in the middle of the night (we were in Australia at the time). They are clever enough to call you just as the real O2 customer helpline is closing (I think it runs 8am to 6pm or similar) so you can’t get it stopped until they open. (It was all sorted and he was refunded). I’ve had them call me twice this year since I returned to UK. I asked the second one which office he was calling from as I used to work for O2 (I didn’t!) - he hung up. Proof it was another scammer.

[Pixix in reply to Ozziedays]

I had that call 3 times in one week. I reported it to the fraud dept of my bank!

[Ozziedays in reply to Pixix]

We reported it to O2, I think they are aware of it as I’m sure I’ve seen adverts / social media posts from them similar to the banks - that they never ask for your details by phone etc

[Pixix in reply to Ozziedays]

Sorry, I meant 02, not the bank! They didn’t get anywhere as I saw through them immediately, but 3 times in a week? Bad news!

[piglette in reply to Ozziedays]

O2 have had some big time scams recently, they were all over the press.

[Bennijax in reply to Ozziedays]

Why would a company call you to offer you a deal that will make them less money?

[Indigo2417]

Might be worth noting as well that scammers can get software that makes it look like the number that is calling you is the advertised bank number, even though it isn’t. Also, remember when you get an incoming call on a landline, it isn’t cut off if you put the phone down at your end. They have initiated the call from their end and are still there. If you try to dial out you can be fooled into thinking that you have actually got through to your bank. It’s a good idea to phone from a different phone, or at least make sure you’ve got a dial tone before you try phoning your bank. You can’t be too careful these days.

[Sophiestree in reply to Indigo2417]

just to add, if not turn your mobile phone off, wait 2 minutes and then turn it back on and phone.

[Bennijax in reply to Indigo2417]

Thank you - you have explained this far better than I tried to do.

[Janet57]

A useful reminder not to answer calls that purport to be your bank (in the UK at least) and never to give out personal information on the phone. Well done Piglette for spotting the scam. Many get duped sadly.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

My phone company is Italian - if they call me I tend to ignore it because my Italian isn't good enough! If a text or email arrives that looks important, I go into town to the shop that does all my phone stuff and let them deal with it! Saves me getting involved in telephone sales as well! If I can't buy it F2F I don't bother ...

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

My problem is I do so many volunteer things, eg help line for our local museum, webmaster for our community website, treasurer for our town twinning, so I get loads of emails and phone calls, I don’t normally give my mobile out but am being forced to by banks, government etc.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

What about a burner phone just for that? We got cheap ones for here and I still have mine - costs me 5 euros a year "rent" to keep the number, not sure how the UK works, use it once a quarter I think unless it has changed, might even be once in 6 months. I now have a smartphone on the cheapest available payg - only people on Whatsapp get that number - but all my official contacts have the burner number. Get a load of rubbish on the house phone but if I hear Italian, I hang up as it is only ever trying to sell me something.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I have enough phones around already. Two mobiles and two land lines! I am trying to cut down.

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

Lucky you! I have the cheapest phone I could get from our company, no data although I can connect to wifi when near an open network or at home. Costs $70+ for the two of us every month. Supposed to be in case of emergencies but as hubby has never figured out how to use his I'm thinking of cancelling his. I like texting my kids so will hang on to mine.

[piglette in reply to HeronNS]

I have an iPhone my nephew gave me in 2017 as he was given a new company one. It has a broken screen and is an ancient iPhone 6! The other one is a dumb phone. So not very exotic!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

My iPhone 7 - like piglette's a hand me down but not a cracked screen - costs me under 10 euros per month for unlimited calls (never used) and more download in Italy than I get on my home wifi! Not quite as exciting for download elsewhere. In fact, I sometimes use it as a hotspot when the house wifi is being a bit slow and TV is cutting in and out. At your prices I wouldn't have one.

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

I got it with reluctance because the kids said it would have been useful to me when I was stuck in ER for 11 hours when I hurt my knee, which was true. I finally got one a couple of years ago and although everyone said I'd love it and use it all the time that has not proven to be the case. On the two occasions when hubby should have used it to contact me he did not, and caused me even more inconvenience than if we'd not had the stupid things in the first place. Canada has the most expensive cellphone service in the world, although I think there must be better deals than I have.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to HeronNS]

I use mine quite a lot - I have the Kindle app on it and read on it rather than my KIndle as I always have it with me when sitting waiting for something. It was set up to use on the house wifi at first, no SIM card, and then I realised how useful it can be out and about - looking up buses/train times, weather and so on. I knew there was a really cheap option that meant I wouldn't have to look for public Hot Spots - we have plenty of them here too.

I would have thought most countries would have an option to seniors to be "in touch" or maybe we are a bit philanthropic!

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

It's actually a really big problem in Canada, even warranting "discussion" although apparently no action amongst the ruling class.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I remember asking the orthopaedic surgeon to take a photo of my xray on his computer of my hip and handing him this beaten up wreck of a phone!!

[Countrykitten]

There are some very clever scams going around. I recently took a call claiming to be from our bank asking for my husband. As we have a joint account I said I could deal with any problems..He claimed someone had tried to buy things online with my husband's Debit card. We went through all the usual 'when did you last use the card' etc. and because fraudsters can rig cash machines to steal our details they wanted his card back to see if it had been tampered with. He gave me an address for a "fraud department" and asked me to take it to the Posf Office and ask for guaranteed next day delivery, for which 'the bank' would reimburse me. He would ring me back later. Needless to say I immediately rang our bank's fraudline to ensure this was a scam. When the friendly, well spoken young man rang me back and we'd been through the usual 'how are you today' chat he asked if I had posted the card back to them. My reply was " Of course I haven't. Surely you didn't honestly think I wouldn't check up on you! Why don't you use your brain for an honest job? ". End of conversation! Always check with your own bank.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Countrykitten]

And preferably via a different phone ...

[Miserere]

I agree with HeronNS - thanks for posting, piglette

[LIVEORDIEHEREIAM]

My OH recently got a very similar call to yours, Piglet. She also had the wherewithall to hang up and call our bank, who said SCAM, loud and clear!

[piglette in reply to LIVEORDIEHEREIAM]

I actually had quite a long row with the scammer when I accused him of being a scammer and he tried to prove to me he wasn’t!!

[Bennijax in reply to piglette]

Not worth your energy, Piglette, just hang up. That may be a helfpful catch phrase - when in doubt JUST HANG UP

[piglette in reply to Bennijax]

A small group of us have a competition to see who can keep scammers on the phone the longest. One person managed forty five minutes. I don’t seem very good they normally put the phone down on me. Little things please little minds!

[Bennijax in reply to piglette]

Actually the group may be stopping more people from being scammed by keeping them on the phone the longest.

[piglette in reply to Bennijax]

That is what we thought. Perhaps we should expand the idea!!

[piglette]

I have had an email asking me if I would like to address the Global Anti Scam Alliance next year!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

Is that a scam?

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I have a nasty feeling it is genuine! They had their meeting in Amsterdam this year. I attended on-line.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

Do you get to go in person? Where will it be?

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

I assume I would be ‘live’ somewhere. I am not sure where they are having it. They must be pretty desperate though! It is just that I am fascinated by scams and scammers and have been for a long time and attend talks on them. Sad lonely life I lead.

[123-go in reply to piglette]

I am impressed!

[piglette in reply to 123-go]

I wouldn’t be. They must be desperate!

[123-go in reply to piglette]

Desperate times call for desperate measures🙂. You could even become Secretary of State for Scams and Scammers. I’ll say no more 🤫.

[piglette in reply to 123-go]

I would love that. I heard that they pay 4% towards Action Fraud and on the news today they said fraud was 40%. I suppose it is easier nowadays to sit with a computer and a phone than to wander around at night in miserable weather breaking into properties. Brings a new meaning to Working from Home!

[123-go in reply to piglette]

Ain’t that the truth!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

😂🤣

[pmr_nikola]

Next gen scams will use AI... They will simulate voice using AI to pretend that relative/son /husband is captured and ask for ransom. It is ( unfortunately) possible to recreate live conversation that mimics voice of the relative in real time using AI and information from the video clip/recording from facebook page or youtube or wherever they can find short few minutes voice recordings.

[Bennijax in reply to pmr_nikola]

Lesson - do not give your voice away on line in any form, for any reason and especially not for tic toc or any instagram video.

[darkred]

Thanks, piglette. Dealing with a bank scam would surely push me over the edge.