A new scam to me

[classic33]

[QUOTE 4784640, member: 259"]That sounds like nonsense to me. I don't believe a word of it.[/QUOTE]
Search for "smishing".


Bank customers targeted in new 'smishing' scam: Warning after one customer lost £23,000 (and Santander won't refund his cash)

• Edward Smith, from Sheffield, lost £22,700 in a 'smishing' scam
• Fraudsters 'hijacked' a genuine Santander text message thread and made him call a number
• Many hold large sums in current accounts due to better interest rates
• Santander refused to refund the money because Mr Smith was tricked into calling the fraudsters and gave them a one-time password
• SMS phishing - or 'smishing' - scams involve fraudsters hijacking text message threads
• The bank's systems themselves are not 'hijacked'

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...scam-saw-one-Santander-customer-lose-23k.html

 

[classic33]

[QUOTE 4784694, member: 259"]By clicking one link like in the post I replied to? No, I still don't believe it[/QUOTE]
Banks are taking it seriously
https://www.scmagazineuk.com/natwest-online-banking-suffers-sms-smishing-scams/article/530515/

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...t-Barclays-Pingit-customer-smishing-scam.html

 

[Tin Pot]

[QUOTE 4784694, member: 259"]By clicking one link like in the post I replied to? No, I still don't believe it[/QUOTE]

No I dont think that's what's suggested - I understand that a genuine transaction was being set up, the criminals monitored the communications between customer and bank then introduced the false text to direct the money to themselves.

This would be a fairly sophisticated attack, but not unheard of, and is a classic scenario as I posted earlier.

 

[DaveReading]

[QUOTE 4784640, member: 259"]That sounds like nonsense to me. I don't believe a word of it.[/QUOTE]

It's true, but not in the way that the OP described:

The scammers had intercepted the text stream

The "SIM-swap scam" works using social engineering rather than interception technology. The scammer poses as the victim and, using easily verifiable personal information, they contact the network provider and get the victim's SIM cancelled and a new one activated which they have control of.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...-to-protect-yourself-from-SIM-swap-scams.html

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Just received an email purportedly from my home insurance provider informing me that my cover is up for renewal and just click here to log in to their website to view the details. It would have been the most natural thing in the world to follow their instructions and click on the link. I had to remind myself that this email is unsolicited, the sender details could easily be fake, who knows where that link is taking me to.
I will log on to their website via my usual route.

 

[Tin Pot]

Just received an email purportedly from my home insurance provider informing me that my cover is up for renewal and just click here to log in to their website to view the details. It would have been the most natural thing in the world to follow their instructions and click on the link. I had to remind myself that this email is unsolicited, the sender details could easily be fake, who knows where that link is taking me to.
I will log on to their website via my usual route.

Yep. I've been telling financial services companies for twenty years to stop teaching their customers bad online behaviour but the long and short of it is that the business generation is viewed to outweigh the increased fraud.

Mutual authentication...one day.

 

[SteveF]

Got a communication from HMRC today saying I had a tax refund... odd though, it was a letter and they said they had paid the £3k into my bank, strange as when I checked they had!!!... very odd scammers you get these days!

 

[classic33]

Got a communication from HMRC today saying I had a tax refund... odd though, it was a letter and they said they had paid the £3k into my bank, strange as when I checked they had!!!... very odd scammers you get these days!

Checking the validity of the account number. Payment accepted means the account number is valid.

 

[Tin Pot]

Got a communication from HMRC today saying I had a tax refund... odd though, it was a letter and they said they had paid the £3k into my bank, strange as when I checked they had!!!... very odd scammers you get these days!

FFS don't spend it - wait twelve to eighteen months for when they decide you owe them £3K in unpaid taxes

 

[Globalti]

A new one on me.... a friend of mine specialises in exporting chemicals to Ghana and Nigeria. This week a Nigerian telephoned BT impersonating my friend and told them the landline wasn't working then instructed them to divert all calls to his mobile. My friend's wife phoned his office and got an obviously Nigerian voice announcing himself with her husband's name. Presumably the fraudster was hoping to divert any incoming payments into his own account. My friend spent most of Tuesday on the phone to the Police, some fraud office and BT sorting it out.