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Chronicle Live

National

Catherine Furze

Warning on impersonation scams to watch out for as copycat fraudsters try to con you

Jeff Heidi Barclays

One pound in every three lost to fraudsters went to crooks targeting their victims in copycat scams, according to Barclays.

So-called impersonation scams - when criminals mimic someone's family member, friend, the police, a bank, business, or public figure - were responsible for almost a third of money lost to fraud last year, the bank has revealed. And more than a quarter of Britons have now either been targeted by a scammer pretending to be a celebrity or know someone that has, with those who fall victim losing an average of £4,330.

The bank has shared two examples of scams that unwary people might fall for and has warned people to be in their guard against the confidence tricksters.

Impersonation scams could happen to you if:

You receive an email, text message or call that looks or sounds like it’s from someone you know or deal with – scammers impersonate other people and companies by making calls or text messages that look like they’re coming from a genuine number;
They say that they need money urgently, you’ve got an outstanding bill to pay or that your internet isn’t working. If you’ve been contacted unexpectedly, always treat it as suspicious;
They try to rush or panic you. They might say there’s been fraud on your account and you need to move the money to protect yourself – this is a sure sign of a scam;
If you receive unexpected messages or calls, especially ones asking for money. You should end the call, use a trusted source like the company's website to find their genuine number, and then call them back. Scammers can change their caller ID or email address, or label their text message with a company name. This disguises their real identity and makes it look like it's from someone you know, and is known as ‘number spoofing’;

The following two stories show what impersonation scams might look like and describe common tactics scammers use, based on insights from the bank's fraud and scams team:

Scam one: The house purchase scam

Heidi was buying a house. Her solicitor was very helpful, and had been keeping her updated by email. He had recently sent her an invoice for search fees, which she'd paid by bank transfer. Then Heidi got a new email from the solicitor, saying it was time to pay her deposit. The solicitor said his firm used different accounts for deposits and fees, and gave new payment details for her to use. Everything seemed normal, and the email was from the same address as their other emails.

She transferred the money online. The name on the account didn't match the solicitor's name, but she thought it was because of different accounts for different types of payment. A week later, Heidi received another email from her solicitor asking her to pay the deposit. When she called to check what was happening, he didn't know anything about the first email and had not received her money.

What's the scam? The first email about the deposit was from a scammer pretending to be Heidi's solicitor – they'd faked the email address to make it more convincing. When she used the bank details from the email, Heidi was sending her money to the scammer, not her solicitor.

Scam 2: The safe account scam

Jeff got a text message from a delivery company. It said they'd tried to deliver a parcel but nobody had been in, and there was a link to choose a new delivery date. Jeff was expecting a parcel, so clicked the link and entered his address to confirm the parcel was his. The website said there was a small fee to pay for arranging a new delivery, so Jeff chose his new date, and used his card to pay the fee.

Three days later, Jeff got a call from his bank. They could see the small fee payment he'd made earlier in the week and wanted to warn him that this was part of a common scam, where fraudsters send a fake text message designed to steal your details, then use them to get access to your bank account. The caller said that because Jeff had entered his details, his bank account was at risk and he needed to transfer all his money to a safe account. The caller gave him the safe account details, and helped him with the transfer. They said they'd call back in a few days with an update, then ended the call. They didn’t call back, and when Jeff contacted his bank for an update, it hadn't called him and staff said they would never ask anyone to move money into a safe account. Jeff had sent his money to a scammer.

What's the scam? The text message and the phone call were both from a scammer – they sent the message to get Jeff to enter his details, then called pretending to be the bank to scare him into thinking his account was at risk. Jeff knew he'd entered his details on a website, so he was convinced by the call. He thought he was transferring his money to a safe account with the bank, but he’d sent it to the scammer.

Ross Martin, head of digital safety at Barclays, gives the following advice on how to stay safe from impersonation scams:

Be wary of unexpected calls or messages: Scammers will often make calls or messages look like they're coming from someone you know, or a well-known organisation such as a bank or the police. Never give remote access to your computer or device to someone who has called you unexpectedly.
Never click on links in messages you're unsure about: Scammers can make their messages look like they're coming from a person or organisation you know. Never click on a link in a message without asking yourself whether you were expecting that message, as this can be a way for them to steal your personal information.
Don't be convinced into transferring your money into a 'safe account': A trusted organisation or bank will never tell you that your funds are at risk, or that you need to send them to a 'safe account'. If this happens, it's a scam.

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