Why??

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. ?

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.

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 text message about a suspected fraud on my credit card and it asked me to type Y if I had made the transaction myself. Searched the mobile number it came from and there was no connection with the card company so I spent half an hour trying to get through by phone. Turned out it was genuine but no idea why the number they gave was not linked to them. Good that they pick up suspect transactions though.

forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2284046/how-do-you-deal-with-chuggers

Willow, I would never sign up for anything on the street, or for that matter, anyone knocking on my door uninvited. The people in the street are "chuggers", and get paid for everyone they sign up. If you want to donate regularly, you need to have time to consider which charity you want to support, not be pushed into it.

Also, personally I'd give my money to another animal charity rather than the RSPCA.

You were being very sensible....good for you

Well done, I did exactly the same thing with my bank.

I thought maybe I was being over cautious when I was stopped outside a local store by a lady working for the RSPCA. It was a pop up stall with all the parephenalia, so I believe it was genuine. She wanted me sign up to a monthly direct debit and being an animal lover, I may have been persuaded. I asked if she could give me a leaflet which I could fill in at home, but she didn't have any. I said that was a pity, because I would prefer to take my time to think about it first and then if I wanted to sign up, would do it in my own time. But she wanted to put all my personal details into a tablet there and then in the street. She may have been very genuine, but I still refused and I must admit after spending so long talking to me, she made me feel quite guilty. When we are reminded repeatedly about protecting our details, I don't think this is the way to go about signing people up to a good cause.

This is one reason I never use online banking-when I get emails about 'my account' I know it's a scam.

Well done you, OldWoman. NEVER give anybody, on the phone, in the street, or a family member, any of your security numbers and words.

I was going to say the same thing deedaa . If necessary ask a friend if you can use their phone.

It happened to me many years ago and i did proceed with caution but for ages after I felt very uneasy thinking something fradualent was going to happen. Why can't they give an option of going to a local bank and speaking to someone in person? After all how many people would be able to set up a pop up bank or pose as a branch member. It wouldn't have to be the same bank just a facility shared in a branch even skype facility in a branch. It isn't our fault to be cautious after all they are always reminding us that we should. It wouldn't be that difficult to sort a system out for those who could get out.

And remember, if you are calling straight back to another number, do use a different phone because they may have stayed on the line.

I think you were right to be cautious.

I agree with you. I had trouble recently with Scottish Power about an account set up in error, their error, at my address but without my name or any form of consent. Letters addressed to the Occupier threatened action by the bailiffs if the outstanding account was not paid. The firm of bailiffs was easy to contact and accepted my explanation, but Scottish Power were a nightmare. Every time I rang up to complain I had to go through the rigmarole of giving my full name, address, date of birth, postcode,telephone number and email address to people, different every time, who refused to identify themselves other than by a christian name, because their identity had to be protected. It took two whole days of telephoning to sort it out and a lot of losing my temper to get anything done.

I once had someone using my account when with Lloyds and their fraud office rang me. After I’d done the what is your mother’s maiden name stuff, they identified themselves to me by telling me the last entries on my bank statement and my current balance.

Thanks Elegran. I have never heard that mentioned in any of the reports of people who have been scammed. They must make thousands of calls before they get anyone with sufficient money in the particular bank. I still suspect they have inside information though.

It is one thing phoning people and telling them their BT phone is about to be disconnected as they have a good chance that the recipient will be with BT but finding someone who banks with, say, TSB, who has several thousand pounds sitting in their bank account and is gullible sounds to me like looking for a needle in a haystack.

No, you weren't being over cautious.

PamelaJ1
Apparently so many people only ever use a mobile number that is why it is the first number anyone tries.

You were absolutely right.
Recently, although we still had our cards, someone tried to use our details to buy airline tickets. The bank sent me 2 messages on my mobile requesting that I contact them. I did but used the number on the back of my card not the one on my phone.
They could not tell me how someone could have used or accessed our details.
Two things puzzled me. Firstly if I buy airline tickets I would presume I have to turn up at the airport. Can’t they be arrested then?
Secondly why didn’t the bank use my home phone? I would have got the message that they had blocked my card a day earlier. I’m an intermittent mobile user, it could have been days before I got the message.

Nonnie They don't know anything about you except that someone of that name has that phone number. If it turns out that you do have an account with the bank they are pretending to call from, they take it from there. They may only get a flea in their ear from some people, but the occasional bonanza is worth all the times the phone is slammed down on them. Their main qualifications for their job are a thick skin and a brass neck.

They have now contacted me via their secure messaging system, so it was genuine. However, I do think there should be a way for us to be able to check someone calling is from the bank - a password perhaps?

You were right.

I do wonder how the fraudsters know the name of the person they phone and that they have large amounts in the named bank. Surely this could only be obtained by someone working in the bank? I keep so little in the bank that it wouldn't be worth them trying it on me!

You are right to be cautious, so many scams some of which sound quite plausible. I was contacted by my bank, stating that they suspected fraudulent activity on my credit card, they asked me questions and got a bit annoyed when I would not answer them as I didn't know if it was a genuine call. They told me to phone the number on the back of my debit card, I did, the call was genuine, there had been fraudulent transactions on my card, all was sorted.
I would say if in doubt always phone back to a number on a bank statement or from the internet.

seacliff You are right, if I ring them then I expect to have to answer security questions. I just wonder why banks don't have a system whereby we can ask them security questions to ensure they are genuine.