Trusting people in the UK were defrauded of more than £23 million last year through one scam so simple as to be almost unbelievable.
Fraudsters call people, tell them they are from their bank and then persuade them to transfer their money into another account. That account inevitably is in the hands of the criminals.
Part of the ploy is to tell the victim that a fraud has been detected on their account and fast action is imperative to get the funds into a “safe” account.
Police have been issuing warnings about this phone scam for some time, but it is the first time a figure has been compiled. A national anti-fraud agency says £23.6 million was transferred to con men last year in this way.
In addition to police warnings, banks have frequently broadcast that neither they nor the police would ever ask for money to be transferred into a new account. They also would never send a rep to a client’s house to collect cash, cards, cheque books or Pin numbers.
But police are wary that such scam attempts will continue.
The fraud often involves victims being invited to hang up and call their bank, but in reality the criminals stay on the line which results in no break in the connection. They then pretend to answer the call with the bank’s name.
Criminals may offer genuine account information, which they have obtained fraudulently, in order to sound more convincing.
