Jenny
Jenny was targeted by scammers who knew her name, phone number and address and used them to convince her she was speaking first to her bank and then to the police.
One fraud victim, Jenny, told the BBC how she used a fraud helpline to help fend off fraudsters.
But not before fraudsters stole £4,000 by sending a courier to her house to collect her money.
Fraudsters are under increased pressure from the anti-fraud hotline 159, which received 800,000 calls in its first three years of operation.
The helpline has been set up by Stop Scams UK to allow victims to contact their bank in a safe and secure manner.
'Help', intimidation then threats
Jenny was the victim of email fraud by some “pretty brazen” scammers, she said.
They first pretended to be from his bank.
They knew her name, phone number and address and led her to believe they had access to her accounts, which convinced her she was talking to a real bank employee.
They told him there was suspicious activity on his account, but don't worry, they would stop the fraud and protect his money.
They then put her in touch with someone posing as police, who first promised to help stop the fraud, then asked her to help investigate suspicions of fraud in his local bank branch.
Then come the intimidation, then the threats.
Jenny says she was warned that if she told anyone or didn't help she might be prosecuted, but given her community spirit, she wanted to help anyway.
“They were on the phone the whole time I was going to and from the bank and coming back from the bank, so it was quite a high-pressure situation.”
Ultimately Jenny was tricked into withdrawing £4,000 in cash from a branch – while the fraudsters listened – and as soon as she was home she was asked to wear gloves and examine the numbers standard on the banknotes in an elaborate and sophisticated procedure. scam.
The criminals kept up the pressure and told Jenny that the notes were fake and not to be touched.
Shortly after, a courier arrived to take the money and disappeared.
When Jenny finally realized what had happened, she called her bank and Action Fraud, who advised her to dial 159 if the scammers tried to steal more money.
Two days later, when the criminals contacted Jenny again, she did just that.
“When they called me back, I was, I think, still in shock,” she said, but dialing 159 saved her from losing more money.
Pretending to be someone's bank is the key to so many frauds, which is partly why Stop Scams UK set up a special number three years ago to connect fraud victims directly with their bank.
You simply dial 159, you are asked who you bank with and you are put through.
Organizers admit it's not a silver bullet: it's not a toll-free phone number and how quickly each bank calls specialist fraud advisers can vary.
But with 20 banks now registered covering 99% of current account holders in the UK, it is a useful tool in the fight against fraud.
Jenny
As a passionate volunteer, the scammers were able to exploit Jenny's community spirit and use it to their advantage.
“A quick and easy way for customers to contact us”
Maria Cearns, operations director at the Cooperative Bank, said the lender signed up to 159 three years ago “because it gives customers a very quick and easy way to contact us and help us as soon as they see something suspicious. “
“For us, this is an immediate action for customers who are often panicked.”
She also described how, in one case, bank call handlers were able to stop fraud while it was happening in real time.
“One of our small business customers called us on line 159 and noticed some unusual transactions on their account.
“Because we prioritize speaking to these customers as quickly as possible and directly to a fraudulent agent, we were able to immediately protect this account.
“We actually saved this customer from losing £100,000.”
