A man has shared his near-miss with a scammer who impersonated a broadband provider in order to help themselves to his bank account.
Almost 200 people have reacted to and shared a post that surfaced in a Facebook group called Keep Cash - UK.
In it, the man says he was tricked into sharing his bank account information and left feeling ‘stupid’ but his quick reaction leads him to contact his bank and while the money appeared to have left his account it hadn't left the bank yet.
Because of this little known delay, all of his money was recovered by the bank and the man felt he should share his story with the hope of stopping other thefts.
Citizens Advice have said that over 36 million Brits have been targeted by scams this year already and we are only halfway through.
While alerts and warnings are popping up regularly so consumers and users are aware of the warning signs the fraudsters are only becoming more sophisticated.
In this instance, the man was experiencing problems with his broadband provider, BT, so it was just by chance he was hoping they would get in touch with him.
He said: “First, they told me that they were telephoning about a problem with my broadband which I actually have and which needs sorting.
“They might just have struck lucky on that one.”
Added to this was the clever use of information to manipulate him.
The post said: “Then they pretended that they were fixing my broadband online.
“They maintained my belief that they were from BT by dropping accurate snippets of information that only BT should have had such as when my bill is due and how I pay it.
“They must have acquired BT account details for that.”
Eventually, he discovered that the call was a fake and the panic set in as he looked at the zero available balance in his account but what he did next saved the day.
He continued: “...when I cottoned-on and telephoned my bank, the money had already left my account but it obviously hadn’t left the bank because they were able to recover it and put it back.”
“Now it’s over and sorted, I’ve been thinking to myself, how could I have been so stupid? That’s made me realise how cleverly it was done.”
Other people from the group have shared their scams experiences with one saying: “Had a few of these calls, my reply is to thank them for making me aware there's a "problem" and that I will have my technical dept to fix it.
Don't know why but they always hang up on me!”
Another said: "Get them regularly. I let them witter on for a while then tell them I will ring them back.
"Phone goes dead."
What to do if you think a call from BT Broadband is a scam?
BT Broadband say it's probably a scam if you experience any of these:
The caller sounds urgent or threatening
They ask for remote access to your computer
They ask for personal details, passwords or bank details
If you think you may be dealing with a scammer, end the conversation and you should never share personal information, passwords or bank details.
BT says to do the following:
Hang up
If they claim to be from BT report the call
If you have Call Protect, blacklist the number
If they claim to be from a respected business, look the business's number up and call back
You can also follow the advice from Action Fraud and the Take Five campaign to check something out, if it looks suspicious then contact the firm directly, but never click on links in messages or emails.
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