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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Catherine Furze & Chiara Fiorillo

Warning issued for new text scam used by fraudsters to steal your money and data

Mobile phone users have been warned to be alert as fraudsters have now found a new way to steal people's money and personal data.

Scammers have recently started to insert fraudulent texts into legitimate message threads from banks and other organisations.

This new trick has become one of the most convincing ways for fraudsters to act, according to Which? senior researcher Faye Lipson.

The latest scam was highlighted after a man contacted Which? after being targeted by a sustained campaign of scam texts and phone calls, seemingly from Lloyds Bank.

The man noticed a strange text appearing at the end of a chain of legitimate messages from his bank, Chronicle Live reports.

Scammers can now infiltrate legitimate text messages (Stock photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The text claimed he would receive a message asking him to confirm activity on his account and another text soon after from a different number claimed a £110 transaction on Amazon had been declined by his bank.

It added the customer needed to confirm that he had attempted the Amazon payment, or Lloyds would "decline future card payments".

The man became suspicious as he noticed the message had the last four digits of a card number that was not his and after calling his bank's fraud hotline, using the number on its website, it was confirmed that there were no fraud concerns on his account.

Luckily for the man, he did not lose any money but he still received seven calls from an 0333 number to both his mobile and landline, which he ignored.

But he said: "I'm frightened that the scammers had both my numbers, knew I was with Lloyds and could also send texts appearing to be from Lloyds."

Criminals use online "spoofing" services to send text messages over the internet, using short names such as "Lloyds Bank".

When the fake message arrives, the phone automatically groups it with any other messages from the same short name.

Anyone could fall victim to a scam (Getty Images)

Ms Lipson said: "This means we must treat all messages claiming to be from banks or other trusted bodies with a degree of scepticism.

"It's common for scammers to have some prior knowledge of us – such as where we bank – gleaned from data breaches and then traded on murkier sections of the internet and the vast majority of us will have had our data stolen at some point, often repeatedly.

"That's why, when we're asked for our money or personal information, we should always take five minutes and think about how to verify what we've been told, using trusted contact details – such as the helpline number on the back of your card."

Lloyds Bank warned customers to be vigilant against fraudsters, saying the bank would never ask customers to share account details like user ID, password and memorable information, their Personal Security Number (PSN) for Telephone Banking, PIN code or card expiry date and would never ask customers to move money to another account.

Earlier this week, we reported that people are still being tricked by the dreaded "Hi mum" message scam.

Those caught out by the swindle can find themselves thousands of pounds out of pocket with one phone owner recently telling the BBC that she had lost over £3,000 after handing cash to fraudsters.

Jan - which is not her real name - said she received a message saying: "Hey mum I am texting you on my friend's phone as my phone is broken".

She was then asked for money to be sent to help sort the issues. It was only after she had transferred the cash and sent a confirmation to her son that she realised something was wrong.

"I was just so gutted, I was so, so, so upset that someone could do this to me," Jan told BBC Money Box.

She is not the only one that has fallen foul of this scam with Action Fraud recently confirming that more than 1,200 people handed over a total of £1.5 million to cyber thieves in 2022 alone.

"If you receive a message like this from a friend or family member, don't send any money until you've had a chance to call them and confirm their identity. Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe," said Detective Chief Inspector Craig Mullish, from the City of London Police.

If you fear you have been scammed, you should immediately contact your bank and report the crime to the police through Action Fraud.

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