Lloyds Bank issues warning for social media scammers
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The provider used Twitter to alert people to scams which could happen right under their nose, using the popular HBO programme House of Dragons as an example. The bank attached an image to the tweet which urged people to be wary of scams “posing as games”. The image attached asked the question “What’s your Targaryen name?”
To find out the answer, the image stated that it would be a person’s mother’s maiden name and the name of their first pet.
Of course, while this is an example devised by Lloyds to appear like a harmless game, posts like it could serve as the perfect opportunity for nefarious scammers to harvest details commonly used by Britons as security answers for online banking.
The bank tweeted: “Winter is coming. Beware of scams that ask for personal details.”
The warning came as part of the bank’s campaign to educate the public on how scammers can use social media to steal personal information.
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In a follow-up tweet, Lloyds Bank said: “Fraudsters can try to find info about you online.
“It could help them access your accounts, or win your trust on a scam call.”
The warning comes after posts on social media sites encourage users to answer these types of questions.
These types of posts come up frequently as companies use them as a way of trying to increase the engagement on their brand’s social media page.
One of the most popular ways to spread their brand is to ask a fun, nostalgic question. Questions like what was your first car?, what colour was your favourite freeze ice pop? and what was your first pet’s name? have frequently been used.
While brands themselves do not have negative intentions, scammers could piggyback on this harmless engagement for their own devious means.
These questions seem harmless, and for the vast majority of social media users, they are.
However, millions of criminals lurk on social media looking for personal information they can use against someone and the answers to these types of questions can put people at risk for identity theft for sophisticated scams.
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Posts like this can sometimes garner thousands of comments with people sharing their results.
Lloyds Bank urges customers to be wary and “share with care”.
The bank said: “What you share on social media can be seen by lots of people. So keep important details private to stop them being used by others.”
Lloyds Bank warns scammers can use the person’s information which has been shared to guess passwords which could be used to access their social media accounts or could even give them access to bank accounts.
It said: “Don’t use your personal details to create a password. Fraudsters may search through your social media to help them guess your passwords or to try to steal your identity.”
If they gain access to someone’s account, scammers can pretend to be the person and will often ask friends and family for money or banking details.
Lloyds Bank states If people get a message like this, then they should call the sender on a number they trust to make sure it’s real.
It also warns people to not use a number from a message as this could be part of the scam.
To lessen the risk of being exposed to scammers, Lloyds Bank urges people to only connect with people they know and if they are not sure, then people should not connect with them.
The bank added: “If you have to register for a site or to enter a competition or quiz, make sure it’s safe before you give any personal details.
“And be careful what you click on. Fraudsters can use links within a message to send you to a fake site or to put a virus on your device.”
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