Why??

NEVER give out information to anyone over the phone. Ringing the organisation yourself to check out a call is fine but always use a different phone as well as a different number. ie. landline if contacted on your mobile or the reverse.
Scammers have ways of holding a phone line open so that when you think you're calling direct they are the ones still on the line.
What a world we live in.

I had a phone call from M&S mastercard asking for my security details. I refused saying 'how do I know that it is really you?' I was busy getting ready for a holiday so didn't follow it up. We got to the airport and tried to buy duty free but my card was refused!! It had been a genuine call about someone trying to use my card to get credit on a mobile but it was a largish amount and therefore out of character. I hope they have improved their approach now.

As others have said, if you are telephoned by someone who says they are from your bank, etc, DONT ring back immediately from the line they rang in on, they are able to somehow to keep your line open after you hung up from them, so that even if you ring a different genuine number, the scammer will be the person answering the phone!

A lovely and clever friend was defrauded out of £75,000.00 + which had come from her redundancy into her current bank account. A very competent sounding woman rang her to check her security details, the woman sounded so good and believable, that my friend changed her security details on the phone and lost all her money.

The bank says it is NOT responsible because of how the fraud or scam was done as this particular way is not yet covered by law. My friend has gone to the High Court to redress this, her husband is a solicitor so they knew how to relatively cheaply, and it seems likely she will get most of her money back, but immensely stressful. ?

After thinking about it Seacliff, I probably wouldn't have signed up anyway - I do tend to change my mind once I've had time to think about it! I made that mistake with the NSPCC and was pestered constantly to increase my monthly contribution, to the point where I stopped it completely. Now I give to charity via quiz nights and bbq's for medical detection dogs and donating my clothes to air ambulance and local hospice. Oh, and volunteering and adopting cats from Cats Protection!

100% the right thing to do. At work we often get notice of bank account detail changes for customers or suppliers and I always contact them myself by phone with number we have on record to check that this is genuine.

Another thing to be careful of is even if you put the phone down and look up the number and dial the right number, sometimes they have kept the line up their end and after you finish dialing you're still talking to the person who originally phoned you (they use a fake dialling tone noise) though I think this can only be done on land lines not on mobiles, since on a mobile either end can cut off the call not just the caller

I had an argument with M&S many years ago about the same thing. Cold calling and after stating they were from M&S the next thing was would I confirm my details before they would speak further. I had 4 different people phoning one day, they were all told the same and hopefully got the message and changed their system. On a slightly different theme, I had a call the other day asking if I was Mrs !!!! The lady who lived here over 13 years ago,, before I moved in.

Willow, snap, I too volunteer for Cats Protection ? We foster cats, and also do fund raising stalls at local events. Great fun, rewarding, and no one in our group takes any money, all volunteers.

Here are our latest two, they were feral kittens originally, but are lovely and gentle and loving now, we will be sad to part with them.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH2ejB_ysJ4&t=11s

Sorry. I've just realised I went well off the thread subject.

Gorgeous Seacliff! (My apologies too for going off subject!)

Edithb and anyone else who gets a phone call from their bank, fraudsters can make it look like the genuine number when it is not, same with emails. I know how long it can take to get through to the bank on the phone but it has to be worth it for peace of mind.

I wasn't sure how it works on a landline, when the scammers have rung you and then you put the phone down, but it's still open their end with a fake dialling tone as someone posted earlier.

I googled, and it seems BT are aware, and the time before a call clears has been reduced now, but I'm still not too clear on when you know your line is clear. If you rang the speaking clock after, I guess that would show you if they have really gone? I'm not too good on technology!

Glad this all ended happily Oldwoman70. You would not have been asked for PINs or security words, but details of recent transactions to prove who you are. Anyone can answer your home or mobile phone, so they were right to ask you information of a non-confidential nature which would prove they were talking to the account holder. This is far more effective than any ‘password’ which would then act as a golden key to your assets!

Well done, it might well have been a scam.

I received a letter from a debt collection firm, saying please phone them as they wanted to speak to me on a personal matter. I knew I didn’t have any outstanding debts. I called them and the first thing I was asked for was my date of birth. I was terribly alarmed and hung up. However, after a bit of searching on the internet I decided they were genuine, called back, and gave my date of birth. It turned out they were looking for someone with exactly the same name and date of birth (!!) but a different address so could stop bothering me immediately.

Dead right. They are unknown and should not be asking you for such details. Tell them to get their end security right and supply you with special codes that can confirm it is them.

This seems to be a common failing with banks; they give no thought to how they should be subjected to the same checks they impose on us.

No, you did the correct thing. Once I was contacted by someone saying that there was unusual activity on my account and asked some questions, I refused to answer. I then went down to the local branch I(no longer there) and asked the teller to check that all was well. Much to my delight she did everything she could to check and all was well. Never ever give any details.

Of course, those who don’t bank online should remember that everyone they have ever written a cheque to has your bank details ....

We received a call from Barclaycard and they asked to speak to my husband when I said he wasn’t available but could I take a message and they said no because of the data protection act but when would he be home...they rang back,when he was home,and they asked him for the last 4 digits of his card and then read out the last 4 purchases on the card and asked him if they were his,it was a brand new card which he had only used twice,so they were able to confirm his new card had been cloned either in a Shell garage or a Tesco store .....

vickymeldrew - they don't have your security details.

on a couple of occasions, I've had a text message saying suspected fraud on my debit/credit card. So I've gone into my bank and used their telephone (at their expense....!) to speak to their security department to sort it out. I feel more secure that way! I'd recommend that strategy if you live near your branch, but of course so many banks are shutting down these days which doesn't help.

sunseeker. Totally agree. My comment is meant for those who are unnecessarily concerned about others knowing their account numbers.

Oldwoman70 No you were right. I did have a call about suspicious activity on my card. They were right. But when they first called, they just said it was the bank so I said I'd phone them back. They were very understanding and said I did the right thing. Never assume it is a proper call, however right it sounds.

pamdixon That's a good idea Pam - going into the Branch to phone. As you say, it depends how easy it is to get to the branch......

I have always been over cautious to the extent that I refuse to use a ATM when needing cash. Watched too many programmes on fraud. When my local bank closed I complained and was told well you have the ATM.?So now I queue up with the rest of the like minded elderly ladies at our village shop come post office. Or have a twenty mile round trip to the nearest branch of my bank.