Customers with the some of the UK’s biggest banks have been warned about a cruel scam that has swept the country in recent days.
The Chartered Trading Standard Institute (CTSI) said that it has received ‘considerable evidence’ of scams targeting Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds bank account holders.
It has been claimed that the fraudsters have been taking advantage of a surge in digital payments during the coronavirus pandemic to send dodgy text messages to request bank details.
One text shows a scammer pretending to be a representative from the person’s bank asking for confirmation of a payment made from a digital device not used before.
Another sees a message asking the recipient to tap a link to confirm payment to a named person.
All of the fraudulent messages contained links that request the likes of bank login details - putting the targeted person at serious risk of theft and banking fraud.
Katherine Hart, a Lead Officer at CTSI, said: I am witnessing so many reports of this scam; indeed, I have received multiple versions of it on my phone. The public is very vulnerable to this type of fraud, especially when more people rely on online payments.
"Fraudsters change the form and methods of their scams to match shifting consumer behaviour. The surge in online shopping and payments means that the public must be more vigilant when making online payments and receiving messages claiming to be from their bank.
"If you receive a suspicious text like this, please contact your bank directly and verify with them. Also, forward any scam texts to 7726, which is a free reporting service ran by Ofcom. We must protect ourselves and others from these scams but also provide vital intelligence to authorities.”
Anyone who receives any of these messages has been used to contact Police Scotland on 101 as soon as they receive it.
Or alternatively email details of the scam to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) by emailing report@phishing.gov.uk.
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