Is this a scam call

suep

We've had a message left on our answer phone for my OH, the woman speaks really fast and it's hard to understand her, but she says she's from personal banking and can we ring her back quoting HCFZ on 08453004710 concerning a security problem. We bank with First Direct and I'm sure if it was from them they would have mentioned that. Does anyone know if it's genuine or not?

skylight

Probably a scam.

Call First Direct (Your Bank) on the number you already have for them (like from your cheque book or bank card) and not the number this lady left. If there are any issues, the call centre will put you in the right direction or confirm it wasn't them. At least this will put your mind at rest.

dealornodeal_3

suep wrote:

We've had a message left on our answer phone for my OH, the woman speaks really fast and it's hard to understand her, but she says she's from personal banking and can we ring her back quoting HCFZ on 08453004710 concerning a security problem. We bank with First Direct and I'm sure if it was from them they would have mentioned that. Does anyone know if it's genuine or not?

Ive had phone calls in the past from my Bank, and I cannot remember them giving me a phone number once! As its on my Bank Statements etc! And they always leave their Name!

Also I would imagine if it was genuine that they would freeze your account, till its rectified!

moonrakerz

Ignore it ! Why waste your money - if it is urgent OR genuine they will ring back.

lemontart

I have done a search on this number and nothing comes up for it - chances are it is a scam as if associated with a bank would surely appear somewhere.

As others say call your bank direct using the numbers you have already for them.

Beth
xx

lemontart

right it alledgedly belongs to halifax fraud dept but I would call your own bank direct.

Liz
xx

chartreuse_2

Sadly, banks often do call and leave a number. The worst offender was one bank who used to send text messages saying "please call xxx bank on 0870...... to discuss your account."

Many security experts agree that this makes a mockery of any security advice the banks give, as by their day to day practice they're training customers to fall victim to pretext calling.

As others have said, never divulge personal info unless you originated the call using a number that you know to be good.

ckerrd

Had FD contact me before on my mobile.

If it is important they will call you back.

If you have internet banking you could check your account to see all is well.

libra10

We received a similar call yesterday, requesting to speak to OH. He was out and when I asked the reason for the call they said it was the HSBC fraud deparment and wished to discuss the account with OH, and could he phone back and was going to give the number. I informed the lady (supposedly from HSBC) that he wouldn't phone a number given over the phone and would contact them, using the number found on HSBC website.

To cut a long story short, he phoned and following checks, found that there were no problems with the account and no-one had phoned. We concluded that it must have been a scam but the number on our phone's 'Received calls' list, beginning 0800, answered stating HSBC, no need to ring back.

We are still unsure whether it was a scam but feel we definitely did the right thing.

suep

Thanks for the replies. I will pass them on to my OH and tell him to ring FD just to be on the safe side. We havn't got an account with Halifax so I don't know why they would call us if it is them, and I agree that if it was that important they would call again, which they havn't.
Thanks again
sue