This is a real life case sent in by a member:
Bank Scams - a cautionary tale from a member
If, like me, you have read many accounts of people falling for a financial scam and thought “how stupid can you be?” – please read on.
It all started with a call on my landline from the Bank of Scotland (except it wasn’t) around 10.30 on a Saturday morning. I checked the number shown on my handset and phoned it using my mobile and it was indeed the Bank of Scotland (except it wasn’t).
Having in my own mind established the call was genuine I was persuaded that I was the victim of a cyber attack and several amounts were about to be taken out of 3 accounts I control in 3 different banks. As an alleged crime had apparently been committed and the so called Police were now involved (this was the fake lure) I was instructed to download virus detection software called ‘Team Viewer’ which fortunately my computer blocked. I discovered later that this software was NOT in fact virus detection software (another lie) but would have in fact given the scammers control of my screen. I then had to follow ‘protocols’ which involved moving sums of money around. Nearly 4 hours later having spoken to 5 different people it finally dawned on me that I had been scammed – big time.
I do not regard myself as being either financially naïve or gullible but on reflection in the cold light of day I realised I had broken two cardinal rules:- DO NOT TRANSFER MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT YOU DO NOT RECOGNISE and DO NOT DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH - NO MATTER HOW LOGICAL AND PERSUASIVE THE ARGUMENTS APPEAR.
How do I feel after the event? angry? – yes; idiotic? – certainly; embarrassed? – absolutely! This last reaction is part of the problem with this crime – people are too embarrassed to own up to having been duped and therefore it is suspected to be more widespread than it appears. Please remember no one is immune to this epidemic within the pandemic. If this tale stops even one other person from being scammed I shall feel something good has come out of my bad experience.
We think members will be very grateful for this member's frankness in admitting to the errors in what seems to have been a very sophisticated scam.
This was a fraudulent call to a landline, known as "social engineering".
Under no circumstances should you proceed, please hang up / delete the text or email and, if you can, ideally block any inbound number or email address.
If you receive such a call, be it via your landline, mobile phone, text message or email please follow the guidance on the Police Scotland website and call Police on 101.
There, Police Scotland recommend Take Five, a national campaign led by UK Finance which offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud.
Please read the following advice:
Dealing with suspicious emails, phone calls and text messages
Article in Daily Telegraph 7th March "Financial scams have become hidden 'epidemic' "
Latest (11th March) from Police Scotland:
The following links contain the latest advice, news and support relative to scams, cyber security and resilience.
Trading Standards Scam Share Bulletin
Topics this week include:
- Call Blockers
- Banking Scams
- Amazon Prime Scam
- National Insurance Number Scam
- HMRC Scams
- TV Licencing Scam Emails
- Increase in Sick Puppies
- Google Forms Scams
- Apple Phishing Emails
CyberScotland Bulletin March 2021
Topics this month include:
- Cyber Aware Campaign and New Cyber Action Plan
- Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland
- CyberScotland Partnership
- CyberScotland Week
- Fake Job Adverts
- Guidance for users of Security Cameras
- Free Call Blocking Devices
- The Get Safe Online campaign for March focusses on Vaccination Scams
Message Sent By
Varrie McDevitt (NHWN, Admin Assistant, NW Scotland)
You could consider "subscribing" to the Neighbourhood Security section of this forum, so that you receive notifications of the latest items posted here, without waiting for a digest email.
Consider also looking at the settings on your mobile phone, or landline, so that unknown numbers are blocked or sent straight to answering machine - if someone you know wants to speak to you, they will surely leave a message.
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March 12, 2021, 09:00
Administrator
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