Fraud alert

[omens]

Earlier in the week, I took this test: https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/takethetest/
The idea is to see if you could spot a fraudulent message.

Last night, I got a text alert from a mobile phone number:

Reply Y if ALL are yours or N if ANY are not
24/01 £304 SAMS CLUB DECLD
05/01 £40 PIZZA HUT ONLINE WEB

I initially thought it was a bit odd and was going to ignore it. Except I recognised the pizza hut transaction. I went into my barclaycard app and the date and time matched the Pizza Hut transaction (when we had family over and I ordered pizza).

Second message a few minutes later was:

This is Barclaycard, we're doing a Fraud check on your card. Further texts from us will be from number. DECLD after a transaction means it was declined

I was a bit wary but I replied to the first message, got an instant call from an 0800 number and spoke to someone from Barclaycard. They confirmed my name. They reported that there was a possible fraudulent transaction. They brought up sams club which was something I didn't recognise. They said my card had been compromised, had cancelled it and would send out a new one. No other information was given (except confirmation of the address to post it to).

I've had a debit card stolen from me before and someone rang up my workplace pretending to be my bank and wanted my PIN to block the account. I was aware the bank shouldn't need my PIN to block the account. I was still wary with this call from Barclaycard and kept waiting for them to ask for vital information but they didn't.

I'd recommend going through the above test - it does help for those who might find it tricky.

 

[mikew]

As a rule i never reply to the text Y or N messages as i consider them fishing to find if the number is live and used.

 

[welshwizard645]

"I've had a debit card stolen from me before and someone rang up my workplace pretending to be my bank and wanted my PIN to block the account."

Interesting that - did the bank have your work number or home number.

A colleague had his cards taken while he was at a meeting at a local hotel. 'Police' called the hotel and asked for details, colleague immediately went to jacket to find wallet missing. The group recall seeing people acting suspiciously and passing through where they shouldn't have done.

We still have meetings there.......

 

[omens]

As a rule i never reply to the text Y or N messages as i consider them fishing to find if the number is live and used.

Normally I wouldn't have either. What made me change my mind was the line about the pizza hut - it was the exact amount. I googled the number i was called from and it's the barclaycard fraud line.

"I've had a debit card stolen from me before and someone rang up my workplace pretending to be my bank and wanted my PIN to block the account."

Interesting that - did the bank have your work number or home number.

No. That was alert #1. The bank have only my mobile phone.

 

[Tringa]

Whenever I get a message or telephone call purporting to be from my bank or credit card company I never respond to it. Instead I make a call to my bank/credit card company using a telephone number from my statements.

Dave

 

[Mr Bump]

Companies are getting very proactive on fraud, I recently have had Yorkshire bank and Halifax contact me about issues and handled them brilliantly.

 

[john.margetts]

Whenever I get a message or telephone call purporting to be from my bank or credit card company I never respond to it. Instead I make a call to my bank/credit card company using a telephone number from my statements.

Dave

Always this.

 

[ecoleman]

Companies are getting very proactive on fraud, I recently have had Yorkshire bank and Halifax contact me about issues and handled them brilliantly.

And yet they still call you and expect you to answer security questions to prove you are you. :banghead:

The number of times I’ve refused to speak to a company because I won’t give security info to some stranger that called me is unbelievable.

 

[r5_rxk]

Thanks for sharing

 

[nilagin]

Normally I wouldn't have either. What made me change my mind was the line about the pizza hut - it was the exact amount. I googled the number i was called from and it's the barclaycard fraud line.

/QUOTE]
Did you Google the number before or after you responded?

 

[JonathanRyan]

Yeah, I've had a couple of fraud instances lately - there's a popular theory that a race entry site may have dropped a load of numbers onto the web and lots of runners are getting scammed.

2 things just in case people don't know about them:

1. It's perfectly possible (and not that hard) to spoof your outgoing number. So I can call you from a VOIP line in Chennai and make it looks like the number is the one in Bradford on the back of your card.

2. There's a trick the scammers came up with a little while ago where they call you, you get suspicious and hang up. You look up the number and call "your bank" but they actually never dropped the call they made to you so you are talking to the scammer again. Obviously you then run through security..... This is why action fraud recommend waiting 5 minutes before calling back even on a known number.

 

[camerassassin]

And to add to that - never make the return call on the handset/line they were using i.e. - they call you on landline you call back on Mobile

 

[JohnM100]

Good advice and still good practice, though all telcos in the UK have now implemented call termination when *either* party hangs up, not just the person initiating the call.

 

[omens]

Did you Google the number before or after you responded?

During. The phone rang the moment I replied to the message which didn't give me much time to fire up the laptop. By the time I was done with the call, I'd confirmed it was Barclaycard. My new card arrived over the weekend.

1. It's perfectly possible (and not that hard) to spoof your outgoing number. So I can call you from a VOIP line in Chennai and make it looks like the number is the one in Bradford on the back of your card.

Normally I google the number before deciding to answer. If it's that important, the other person can always leave me a message or email me. Most of the time, it's some random number from Manchester, Bradford or even Birmingham (where I live) so well aware of numberspoofing.

2. There's a trick the scammers came up with a little while ago where they call you, you get suspicious and hang up. You look up the number and call "your bank" but they actually never dropped the call they made to you so you are talking to the scammer again. Obviously you then run through security..... This is why action fraud recommend waiting 5 minutes before calling back even on a known number.

I thought this only applied to landline and not mobile phones?

 

[JonathanRyan]

I thought this only applied to landline and not mobile phones?

Possibly. See @JohnM100 's post above that this may be a thing of the past.

However, action fraud's advice is to wait at least 5 mins before calling back. If nothing else it gives you 5 mins to think about it.