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Am I opening myself up to a scam?

So I was looking at 1 year fixed rate saving accounts on the main MSE website a few weeks ago and the best at the time was a bank I'd never heard of Tandem offering 1.3%, I went to the website and entered a waiting list for their new app, first 100 people who applied to this would be offered 3% for the 1 year fixed rate saving account, unlikely I would picked but they offered 1.4% to those that were unsuccessful, so I signed up.

Today I was informed that I was one the first 100 and that I had 24 hours from receiving a later email from the development team (App Center Team) with a link to download the app and open an account to qualify to the rate. Minutes later I received and an email from the App Center Team <no-reply@mail.appcenter.ms
 with this:
Sam Burgess from Tandem Bank, invited you to test Tandem Prod Android for Android on App Center.
Tandem Prod Android
by Tandem Bank
Android
Production
.... Sign up link here ...
Sam Burgess uses App Center to test apps. By creating an app centre account and testing apps, you'll be helping developers build better apps.
VS App Center© 2020 Microsoft
This linked to a github account, I downloaded and installed the ap. Everything seems legit but I have no idea about what's going on under the hood of this app and I'd never heard of Tandem bank and it's now disappeared from MSE recommendation list (although this could be because the new 1 year fixed rate on the Tandem site has dropped to 0.6%). I was wondering could I be being scammed, you know what they say if somethings to be good to be true it probably is and the 24 hours pressure to open your account is worrying to me.
They need more information from me to open my account and I'm waiting on a member of their team to contact me.  So do you think I should provide everything they need as quickly as possible?


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Comments

  • bowlhead99
    bowlhead99 Posts: 12,295 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Post of the Month
    Sounds normal. You need the app to be able to view your balance once the account is open ; and you agreed to go on the list to beta test their app, complete a user survey etc to get the preferential rate. So you would expect to get the special invite-only link to the app. All their material on their main site explains that once you are sent the invite you will have a limited time to create and fund your account. 
  • You are putting money into an account / investment you know absolutely nothing about and clearly have worries about. You are being told you are one of the first 100 and being put under pressure to invest quickly.  the interest rate is higher than probably you could get elsewhere. Other than that all seems normal so go ahead knock yourself out
  • kinger101
    kinger101 Posts: 6,317 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 September 2020 at 7:34PM
    Personally, I'd trust your gut instant and run. A proficient scammer will want things to look "normal".  Even 99% sure it's okay isn't good enough.
    "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius
  • I would pass.
  • TBC15
    TBC15 Posts: 1,480 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Ho Ho Ho run for the hills, you only have 24hrs start running now.
  • kinger101
    kinger101 Posts: 6,317 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    TBC15 said:
    Ho Ho Ho run for the hills, you only have 24hrs start running now.
    Or cycle even if they can find a partner.  This is Tandem Bank.
    "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius
  • So I've found more out about Tandem Bank, and they seem to a be legitimate company at least, founded in 2015. Found some bad reviews online for them,mostly to do with their now ex credit card was supposedly really good at launch then they introduced a £6.99 a month charge for it and that really annoyed their existing customers. The other complaints were mostly relating to customer service and app issues, seems pretty normal stuff.
    However I don't need to do anything with the account other than open it and lock money away in it for a year and they don't seem to be a fraudulent company per se.
  • kinger101
    kinger101 Posts: 6,317 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 September 2020 at 9:11PM
    So other than the fact that
    (a) the app was downloaded from Github, to which pretty much anyone can upload software, and
    (b) the e-mail (easily spoofed) comes from an address not linked to the bank, and
    (c) they're putting time-pressure on you to act, and
    (d) thousands of people are caught out every year from people pretending to work at a bank, and
    (e) pretty much every high street bank running ad campaigns to say they'll never call you asking for more personal information

    this all seems pretty legit.

    Where do I sign up?

    "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance" - Confucius
  • Why get involved with anything like this??
  • Bravepants
    Bravepants Posts: 1,564 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I think if more people had such a gut instinct to these offers, and at least some sense of due diligence such as demonstrated by the OP, there would be fewer people being scammed!
    If you want to be rich, live like you're poor; if you want to be poor, live like you're rich.
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