Fraud Prevention

You are contacted by fraudsters posing as a trusted organisation.

Fraudsters send an email or text purporting to be from the government, a delivery company or another reputable organisation. The text message states that you need to fill in a form/update details to receive a winter fuel payment, book redelivery of a parcel, etc. A link takes you to a fake website where you are asked to input bank details. Those details are now in the hands of the fraudsters, who use them to steal money from the accounts. 

Stay safe:

• Never click on a link and input personal or payment information such as security codes, card details or login details.

• Verify any message by calling back on a trusted number sourced via a search engine, not the number given in the message. 

You are asked to move your money. 

You receive an email from a known shipping company, saying your parcel is held up at customs. The email asks you to pay a small fee via a link, and to provide additional information – which you do. A few days later, a bank official calls to say the shipping message was a scam and your account is now at risk. As a precaution, you should temporarily transfer your money to a safe account that has been made ready at another bank. 

The caller is not a bank official, but an imposter using the information you provided. The ‘safe account’ is the scammer’s own bank account. No genuine bank would ask you to transfer money to a safe account; they would simply place a temporary block on your existing account.

Stay safe:

• Always call the company/bank back on the number known to you. 

• Watch out for pressure or threatening behaviour – these are red flags for scams.  

• Do not assume the person you are speaking to is genuine because they use or mention the name of a C. Hoare & Co. private banker. 

You are sent fake payment details. 

You receive an email from someone you know about an invoice you were expecting. The email address looks correct, and the invoice matches the work done. However, when you check the payment details, they differ from what you have seen before. Trusting the sender’s email and the invoice, you go ahead and make the payment. 

In fact, scammers have intercepted the email of a genuine individual.

Stay safe:

• Always call individuals or companies to confirm bank details, using an independently sourced telephone number (not the number given in the email).

• Always visit websites via a search engine (not via links in emails).

You are asked to help a loved one in distress. 

You receive an urgent text from a family member or close friend – but not on their usual number. It might appear to be from your son saying his phone is broken, so he can’t access his bank account: he is texting from a friend’s phone to ask if you can pay his rent, which is late. Or it might be a WhatsApp from your daughter saying she has had her phone stolen on a night out. The message says she is fine but asks if you can send her money for a taxi home. 

In fact, the message is from a scammer, using generic wording designed to make parents leap to the rescue (‘Hi Mum, sorry but can you help me out?’). 

Stay safe:

• If you receive a message like this, do not reply to the message it or call the ‘borrowed phone’. Instead, call your friend or family member on their usual number to confirm what is going on. (Scammers often avoid phone calls and make excuses.)

• Ask about something only the real person would know e.g. a shared memory or personal detail from the past. 

You are asked for a security code over the phone. 

This scam depends on the fraudster knowing some of your bank details in advance, possibly as a result of a data breach affecting an organisation or retailer you have used previously. You receive a call, apparently from the bank’s telephone number, telling you there is suspicious activity on your account. The caller may convince you they are genuine by sharing some of your card details or mentioning the name of your relationship manager. To freeze the account and reverse transactions, they need you to confirm the security code – also known as a one-time passcode (OTP) – that has just been sent to your phone. 

In fact, the caller is a fraudster who has your card number and is making transactions in your name, using the security code you have shared with them. If someone asks for a security code over the telephone, it is most likely a scam. The bank will never telephone you to ask for information such as security codes, card details, or login details. Hang up immediately. 

Stay safe:

• Never share security codes with anyone over the telephone.

Your card and PIN are stolen from an ATM or parking meter. 

Criminals exploit ATM machines in various ways. One is ‘shoulder-surfing’, i.e. trying to see the PIN used in conjunction with a bank card. Scammers aim to steal that card and use the PIN to withdraw cash. 

Other ATM scams are more technological. ‘Skimming’, for example, involves attaching a device to the ATM. It reads details from the card while a concealed camera records the PIN. Some devices ‘swallow’ the card, allowing the fraudster to retrieve it later. 

Stay safe:

• To guard against shoulder-surfing, cover the keypad with your free hand while you type in your PIN. 

• If the ATM looks odd in any way, or there is evidence of tampering, walk away. 

You are asked to invest in a fake business opportunity. 

This scam works because fraudsters go to a great deal of trouble to appear convincing. They launch an advertising campaign for their fake investment scheme, build a social media presence, deploy plausible and knowledgeable ‘advisers’, sometimes even create an app – and they promise outstanding returns. It is all a façade designed to attract investors and persuade them to hand over money. But that money is never invested anywhere, merely stolen. 

Stay safe:

• Never make a snap investment decisions.

• Be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Unless you are absolutely sure an investment opportunity is legitimate, do not send money.

• Check credentials of any investment firm, using the Financial Services Register or the Firm Checker on the website of the Financial Conduct Authority. Check the contact details you have been given match exactly the details on those registers. 

Your mobile phone is hijacked. 

This is a scam used by fraudsters when they have already gained access to your account by criminal means. 

You receive a telephone call, apparently from the bank, telling you that your account has been compromised. The caller asks you to type a series of numbers beginning *21* into your phone – they explain this is so you can receive secure notifications about your account.

In fact, the caller is a scammer and you have just instructed your phone to forward calls to their number. Now, if someone from the bank makes a genuine enquiry about unusual payments made from your account, the scammer can pretend to be you and authorise the payments. 

Stay safe:

• If you receive this type of call, hang up. It is not a call from the bank. Only a fraudster will ask you to type numbers into your mobile phone.