Dear tellows friends,

Bank transfer fraud happens more often than you can imagine. Fraudsters imitate various offial organisations, including banks, to persuade you to move money out of your account and into their hands.

Scammers use manipulative methods to panic real people into handing over their money and details. Perhaps you receive a call or text telling you that your account has been ‘compromised’ and you need to move your money somewhere ‘secure’. Maybe you have to click a link inside a text message or email and log in to your online banking account to stop a transaction. Of course such messages are more often than not fraudulent, but they can look very realistic. Links in text messages may take you to a spoofed albeit realistic version of your bank’s website, making the fraud almost more believable.

What happens if I transfer the money?

• If you do transfer the money, it’s an authorised payment (even if you were fooled into doing this) and banks have no legal obligation to recover the money
• Despite this, some banks are signed up to a voluntary code which came into effect in May 2019. Under this code, companies will reimburse customers who fall victim to this fraud, as long as they meet certain criteria
• According to UK Finance, in the first half of 2019, consumers lost £208 million to this type of fraud, £39.3 million of which was returned to them

The difference between authorised push payment fraud and unauthorised fraud

UK Finance confirms that losses from unauthorised fraud are legally protected and should be reimbursed. Consumers are refunded in full almost all of such cases.

Upcoming improvements

Next year in the UK, name checks will come into force when customers transfer money. This means that we will be more protected against this type of fraud given that the name given must match with the name of the account holder in order for the transfer to go through. Fraudsters can no longer lie and claim that the money would be transferred into another account in your name (when really it goes directly into the fraudster’s account).

Experiences of our users

Yessita attributed the number +6281776948377 to Dodi Hendrawan

This is a scam. Called me disguised as Gojek, saying I won IDR 3 million and the money can be transferred via Gopay or bank account. If via Gopay, they will insist you to top up their Gopay. If bank account, they’ll ask you to transfer via Virtual Account to a digital wallet called Dana. The money will be used to top up their phone credit or other means. If you receive a call from this number, just don’t accept it or block it.

PJM commented on the number 03330220537

It starts with a text saying your bank accounts are being closed and to call this number. They try to get you to transfer funds to another account. This is a FRAUD not just a “cost trap”.

Shamami said this about the number 01444642969

Scammed my partner into transferring them £70 then they block your number. IT’S A SCAM, DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY!!

Hetty reported the number 08001697762 as pretending to be from the Bank of Scotland.

said they were calling from bank of scotland, needed my security details to access my account! I said nice try mate & hung up. SCAM CALLER do not give details out!

Our advice

• Always call back on an official number and ask the bank directly if there are problems with your account
• It’s not a normal request to transfer money to another account that has been ‘created’ for you – if your account was actually compromised, banks could lock it and protect it without you having to do a thing
• Report any fraudulent number that called or texted you on the tellows website!

Your tellows Team