Barclays warns Britons of ‘common tactics’ fraudsters use to steal £4k
Barclays has found that more than a quarter of Britons have now either been targeted by a scammer pretending to be a celebrity or know someone that has. Those who fall victim are losing an average of £4,330.
One pound in every three lost to fraudsters went to crooks targeting their victims in copycat scams, according to the bank.
The so-called impersonation scam happens when criminals mimic someone’s family member, friend, the police, a bank, a business, or a public figure.
Impersonation fraud was responsible for almost a third of money lost to fraud last year, the bank has revealed.
The following two stories show what impersonation scams might look like and describe common tactics scammers use, based on insights from the bank’s fraud and scams team:
1 The house purchase scam
The scam involves fraudsters hacking the email accounts of conveyancing solicitors and asking people to transfer money to them. After the victim sends the money, their real solicitor may ask for the deposit.
What’s the scam? The first email about the deposit was from a scammer pretending to be a solicitor – they’d faked the email address to make it more convincing.
2 The safe account scam
Safe account scams are when scammers steal one’s money by getting them to move it to another bank account that they control.
They do this by calling people out of the blue and pretending to be from trustworthy organisations like their building society or bank, the police, or even the Financial Conduct Authority.
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What’s the scam? Scammers use text messages and phone calls to build a rapport with victims and get them to enter their details.
By pretending to be from a trusted organisation, victims will believe their accounts are at risk and transfer money to the account the scammers provide.
He thought he was transferring his money to a safe account with the bank, but he’d sent it to the scammer.
Ross Martin, head of digital safety at Barclays, gives the following advice on how to stay safe from impersonation scams
“Be wary of unexpected calls or messages.
“Scammers will often make calls or messages look like they’re coming from someone you know, or a well-known organisation such as a bank or the police.
“Never give remote access to your computer or device to someone who has called you unexpectedly.
“Never click on links in messages you’re unsure about: Scammers can make their messages look like they’re coming from a person or organisation you know.
“Never click on a link in a message without asking yourself whether you were expecting that message, as this can be a way for them to steal your personal information.
“Don’t be convinced into transferring your money into a ‘safe account’: A trusted organisation or bank will never tell you that your funds are at risk, or that you need to send them to a ‘safe account’. If this happens, it’s a scam.”
As scams are on the rise, Brions are reminded to remain vigilant when picking up calls from numbers they do not recognise.
If someone feels they have been tagetted in a scam, it is important they reach out to their bank, Action Fraud or the police the moment they suspect something is not right
For more information, people can visit the Barclays website.
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