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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Hilary Osborne

New payment set up? Get in touch! The bank scam where your ‘bank’ is the scammer

Woman looking at her phone with a bank card in hand.
The phone pings and it’s your bank asking you to hand over your bank card. Photograph: Chris Rout/Alamy

Your phone pings and it’s a message from your bank about a new payment being set up on your account. If you do not recognise the transaction, it says, you should get in touch. There’s a number for you to call.

The person on the other end of the line tells you that your account has been compromised by scammers. They need details from you so they can help protect your money. Before you know it, they are giving you details of a safe account to transfer your savings to, or asking you to hand over your debit card so it can be replaced.

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