New sophisticated fraud scam

[icowden]

Hi all, just thought I would warn you of a *very* convincing scam that appears to be doing the rounds.

I had a call today from a private number (withheld) from a very well spoken woman. She said she was calling from First Direct (whom I do bank with) Fraud Team as a purchase had flagged up as suspicious on my account. She told me the purchase was for £2140 at Goldsmiths. I told her that, no I hadn't made that purchase. I *think* she also seemed to know my surname.

Anyway, she then asked to take me through security, but asked for my username. This set off my spider sense, as First Direct never ask for online user names. I pretended not to be able to remember it, and she offered me alternative security and asked my account number and sort code. At that point my line "cut out" (I hung up).

I did double check with First Direct who confirmed that no-one had called and that this was a scam caller. It's worth bearing in mind here that I'm a middle aged bloke who works in IT and has regular training about phishing, scamming, network hacks, information breaches etc, and I thought it was INCREDIBLY slick and convincing. I could easily imagine someone handing over their details without a second thought.

This wasn't the usual low salaried drudge in a 3rd world country being made to make scam calls, or a dodgy robot - this was slick and professional and they appear to have been able to obtain some data breach information to make their operation sound legit. I have never come across such a well run scam.

Anyway the upshot is - if your "bank" calls you up about a fraudulent payment. Thank the caller, hang up and then call your bank using the number on their website or your card. If it's a genuine call you will get back to the fraud team, and your card will have been put on hold anyway.

Heads up!

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Hi all, just thought I would warn you of a *very* convincing scam that appears to be doing the rounds.

I had a call today from a private number (withheld) from a very well spoken woman. She said she was calling from First Direct (whom I do bank with) Fraud Team as a purchase had flagged up as suspicious on my account. She told me the purchase was for £2140 at Goldsmiths. I told her that, no I hadn't made that purchase. I *think* she also seemed to know my surname.

Anyway, she then asked to take me through security, but asked for my username. This set off my spider sense, as First Direct never ask for online user names. I pretended not to be able to remember it, and she offered me alternative security and asked my account number and sort code. At that point my line "cut out" (I hung up).

I did double check with First Direct who confirmed that no-one had called and that this was a scam caller. It's worth bearing in mind here that I'm a middle aged bloke who works in IT and has regular training about phishing, scamming, network hacks, information breaches etc, and I thought it was INCREDIBLY slick and convincing. I could easily imagine someone handing over their details without a second thought.

This wasn't the usual low salaried drudge in a 3rd world country being made to make scam calls, or a dodgy robot - this was slick and professional and they appear to have been able to obtain some data breach information to make their operation sound legit. I have never come across such a well run scam.

Anyway the upshot is - if your "bank" calls you up about a fraudulent payment. Thank the caller, hang up and then call your bank using the number on their website or your card. If it's a genuine call you will get back to the fraud team, and your card will have been put on hold anyway.

Heads up!

I can't recall the precise details but I recall hearing of one on the radio that concerned me. Not dissimilar to the one you mention, in that they sounded plausible, but they didn't ask for the details, and encouraged the caller to hang up, and ring the contact number for their bank on the card. The person relating it did that, and was 'put through' the appropriate team who then took all their details, and said that they wanted them to help them catch the crooks by setting up a new account which they would monitor to catch the thieves red handed. They then took all the details to set it up.

It seems the trick was that when you hung up, they kept the line open, which meant no matter what number you dialed, you still just got back to them.

I've explained it badly, but as it was related, I could see how it would catch a lot of people out.

 

[Dadam]

I can't recall the precise details but I recall hearing of one on the radio that concerned me. Not dissimilar to the one you mention, in that they sounded plausible, but they didn't ask for the details, and encouraged the caller to hang up, and ring the contact number for their bank on the card. The person relating it did that, and was 'put through' the appropriate team who then took all their details, and said that they wanted them to help them catch the crooks by setting up a new account which they would monitor to catch the thieves red handed. They then took all the details to set it up.

It seems the trick was that when you hung up, they kept the line open, which meant no matter what number you dialed, you still just got back to them.

I've explained it badly, but as it was related, I could see how it would catch a lot of people out.

I've heard of that one from years back, but I think it only works with landlines and more and more people just use mobile

 

[icowden]

I've heard of that one from years back, but I think it only works with landlines and more and more people just use mobile

That's correct.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I can't recall the precise details but I recall hearing of one on the radio that concerned me. Not dissimilar to the one you mention, in that they sounded plausible, but they didn't ask for the details, and encouraged the caller to hang up, and ring the contact number for their bank on the card. The person relating it did that, and was 'put through' the appropriate team who then took all their details, and said that they wanted them to help them catch the crooks by setting up a new account which they would monitor to catch the thieves red handed. They then took all the details to set it up.

It seems the trick was that when you hung up, they kept the line open, which meant no matter what number you dialed, you still just got back to them.

I've explained it badly, but as it was related, I could see how it would catch a lot of people out.

Yes - that is a common trick

They sometimes even play a dial tone to it sounds like you have a clean line

The thing is to ring the bank from another phone if you can
or phone another phone from you phone first - one that you know but isn;t common - like a friend or a random company that couldn;t be guessed but which you know will answer the phone with the company name

They are getting more sophisticated
woman in the barber's I went to thing morning has been scammed - she realised too late and they had her debit card number
but the bank were being reasonable and when she went to them they immediately blocked all her account

she is lucky because she works in a cash only business and owns it
so she can just live off cash for a while until the bank get it all sorted out and open new accounts etc!

 

[Kingfisher101]

There's been an awful lot on T.V and in the papers about this exact scam its very well know. The advice is don't ever speak to unsolicited callers about your bank account ever.
People have been scammed by this one and the banks have refused to reimburse the victims because its so well known.

 

[markemark]

Sorry and don’t mean to be rude, but this is not a sophisticated attack. Someone rings you from a bank and ask you questions…. Really this should be day one of not falling for a scam. Yes, sadly people do, but this really shouldn’t be it.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Sorry and don’t mean to be rude, but this is not a sophisticated attack. Someone rings you from a bank and ask you questions…. Really this should be day one of not falling for a scam. Yes, sadly people do, but this really shouldn’t be it.

A lot of very vulnerable people fall for this, like people who are very elderly and have dementia etc.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

I may have mentioned it here before but many years ago I got a call claiming to be from the fraud department of my credit card provider. I was told that, before they could speak to me they had to confirm I was the account holder and asked some questions. My response was that, as it was they who called me, they had to convince me they were genuinely who they claimed to be. We reached an impasse and I hung up after saying I would call the number on the back of my card.

I did so, selected the option for the anti fraud team and, a few minutes later, found myself talking to the person who had called earlier. They said that they were pleased to see I was being cautious and wished more customers did the same.

 

[presta]

I had one last Friday, an automated call "This is a call from bank, we've spotted unusual activity on your card....".
Not "the bank" or "your bank" or "Bloggs bank", just "bank".
I rang security on all my cards, and nobody had any suspicious activity, or had sent a call.

It seems the trick was that when you hung up, they kept the line open, which meant no matter what number you dialed, you still just got back to them.

I discovered that one about 35 years ago. I was on the phone, and said something like "ooh, I wouldn't say that, you might hang up on me", and she said "I can't, you made the call"
"What do you mean, you can't"
So she hung up, and demonstrated that the line stays open unless the caller hangs up. She knew full well what happens because she'd had trouble with nuisance callers.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Many many years ago I opened a First Direct account - it was the first I had heard of where you could pay bills over the phone which saved me spending a couple of lunchtimes a month queueing at the bank to pay

I worked in IT so was aware of security and stuff - but hadn;t heard of many banking scams at the time - it WAS a long time ago!

ANyway - one of the things I was impresse dby with this bank was the security you had to go through to talk to them

SO I was rather surprised when I got a phone call from "them" as they needed me to go through security - including passwords and stuff - before they could say why they had rung
They must have only just started doing that becuase the person on the other end sounded rather surprised when I refused to give her any information
she said at one point that she couldn;t talk to me until she was sure it was me
I replied that that was fine and I understood it - but I could talk to them until I knew it was them
we arranged that I would ring them back - but I made it clear that if there was no record of this phone call on my record when I rang back then I would be complaining
I rang back a few minutes later and there was a note on my account that it was genuine
and that my comments would be passed forward as a matter of urgency!!!


never got another phone call from them unless it was a "phone us back on the number on your card" type things

 

[markemark]

A lot of very vulnerable people fall for this, like people who are very elderly and have dementia etc.

Yes I know. And it’s awful. My point is this is not sophisticated. It is blindingly obvious. The banks, however, are now quite good at protecting the elderly from scams.

 

[sheddy]

The 'mum my phone is broke - please end money to buy a new one' text scam is still doing the rounds

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I volunteer in a library once a week (only just started) to help anyone with IT questions or problems

someone came in this week who needed to email stuff to a firm that collects debts - not actually baliffs but next to them

My first question was "are you sure this letter is from a real company"
he stopped dead - he had never even though it could be a scam

we spent quite a while checking them out and I explained what I was doing until we could be sure they were real

but if they had been a scam organisation and just dropped lucky landing a letter on the doormat of someone who owed some money he could have easily falled for it!!


BTW this is not new
when I was in my 20s (i.e. 1980s) my Dad commented to me that my Grand Dad had got a letter from a firm of solicitors in London
Apparently they were and old firm that was being employed by the estate of Catherine Parr - the last wife of Henry 8th
Apparently her final will was never completely resolved and every few decades their firm was tasked to search for the possible descendants to see if the will could be finally resolved and stored for posterity.
As his wife's maiden name was Parr this sounds plausible.

We never wrote back - or even checked if the solicitors were real

but it is very like stuff you see today - it is just easier by email!

sub plot - I may be related to Royalty
(but then geneticists say that most of Europe is distantly related to Charlemagne!!!)
so for now - you don't have to bow before replying to me

for now

 

[Cycleops]

Did it sound like a Welsh accent ? That can sound awfully like an Indian one. I understand that more 'boiler rooms' in India now than in Nigeria.