Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Don’t let ‘Vishing’ fraudsters con your money from you
Jasmine Birtles
12th Sep 2014
Vishing is when a fraudster calls you claiming to be from your bank’s fraud department and they say that your account has been ‘compromised’. You’re told to transfer your money from the compromised account to an allegedly ‘safe’ one, which actually belongs to the scammers.
From the moment you move your money there, it’s gone.
As part of the scam, you can be put off your guard by being encouraged to hang up and call the number on the back of your bank card. But what the fraudsters do then is they just stay on the line, put a sound through the phone that makes sounds like the dialling tone, and then they pick up your ‘call’,usually with another criminal answering to avoid suspicion.
Clever huh?
Yes, and nasty!
Millions of pounds have been defrauded from people this way. A 92-year-old woman in Scotland lost almost £100,000 – her life savings – this way.
The largest amount lost by a single victim was £163,499, while the lowest was £16,000.
On some occasions victims have actually been taken into the banks by criminals to withdraw the money!
According to police there’s been a drastic increase in the number of people being caught out and it’s mainly the elderly and inform who are being targeted.
What to do?
- If you get a call like this, or anything similar, put the phone down.
- Neither the police, nor banks, will cold-call an account holder and ask for personal details, or for money to be transferred elsewhere.
- If you get a call like this, and particularly if you lose money this way, tell Actionfraud.police.uk.
- Tell other people about this fraud, particularly if you know anyone who could believe this sort of scam. The more people know, the more they can protect themselves.
“If you receive a call like this, do not comply. Hang up and ensure the line has been cleared before contacting police.”
Chris Wilson, Royal Bank of Scotland Managing Director RBS in Scotland says: “Fraudsters work by creating fear that a customers savings may be under threat. No bank will ever ask a customer to transfer their savings or part of their savings to another account or another bank in order to “protect the funds”. ”
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