Advertising professional Sofia Bodger is 27, “vigilant and savvy about scams” – and proof anyone can get caught out.
She was hit by a carefully planned ruse that began with what looked like a text from phone company EE saying that her credit card details were out of date.
She clicked on the link but, suspecting something wasn’t right, clicked off again without entering any personal details.
That text was the groundwork for what was to follow. Three days later she got a call apparently from Barclays to say that there was suspicious activity on her account.
To Sofia, this seemed all too plausible after that strange message supposedly from EE. She checked the number of the caller and it matched that of Barclay’s fraud department.
In fact, it was crooks using phone-spoofing technology to mimic calling from a different number.
The caller said that a third party was trying to take her savings, so the money should be immediately moved to a “safe” account or it all would be lost.
Sofia checked the number of the caller again. She had no reason to think that it was not a genuine call from Barclays, the caller sounded professional and at one point she was even put on hold, just as the bank might do, and was told she'd be sent a new bank card.
So, as instructed and under pressure to act without delay, Sofia transferred her money into another Barclays account. It was in her name but, unknown to her, controlled by the crooks.
She had been told to move the money in several batches. When there was a hitch with some of the transfers she moved it first into an account she had with online bank Revolut, and then into the new Barclays account. From there it was siphoned away.
Sofia didn't even know she had been scammed until she called Barclays a few days later to ask when she could expect her new bank card only to be told that it had no record of her requesting one.
“When I spoke to the real Barclays I said it’s impossible to tell the difference between them and the scammers as they use the same banking language, the same expressions,” Sofia said.
“The woman at Barclays said the difference was they would never ask me to transfer money.
“With hindsight I understand that but in that moment of panic when you think all your money is being stolen you just want to get it to safety.
“I can’t believe the audacity of that fraudster on the phone saying ‘Don’t worry, we’ll make it OK’ while stealing all my savings.”
She lost around £5,000, £3,000 of which has been refunded by Barclays and the rest by online bank Revolut.
This scam is known as authorised push payment fraud, so-called because the victims themselves authorise the bank transfers, though without knowing the money is going to crooks.
Banks, understandably, do not refund customers who lose money through their own negligence. However, the Financial Ombudsman has told the industry that falling for a sophisticated and well-rehearsed scam is not the the same as being negligent and it should be sympathetic to victims.
In Sofia's experience, her two banks reacted to the scam very differently.
"Barclays logged it and opened up a case and kept me informed," she said. "Revolut blocked my account so I can't access it, they are so unresponsive, the only way to speak to them is in app through their chat, and all they are saying is that my case is under review."
A spokesperson for the bank said: “We are very sympathetic to Ms Bodger’s case, and after a full investigation we have refunded Ms Bodger the money that she lost as a result of the scam.
“Revolut takes the protection of all our customers extremely seriously.
"We are fully aware of the risk the industry faces of customers being coerced by organised criminals and our sophisticated and comprehensive anti-fraud systems have a strong track record of spotting, stopping and reporting criminal activity."
