I’ve been scammed, what to do next?

Windsorcastle

Can’t even believe I’m writing this and am mortified but got completely scammed yesterday by a fake caller.  Phone number showed up as my actual bank calling, so my guard was down.  What I now know to be a classic scam about fraudulent transactions on my account etc.  Very convincing caller who even sympathised with me about the fraud and assured me he was sorting it out during the call. He already had a lot of my personal
info but I don’t know how.  Persuaded me to use my secure key to generate a code to “stop a fraudulent direct debit” which I stupidly did.  Something niggled me shortly after the call and so I called my bank, took 25 mins to get through and by the time I did, the fraudster had already cleared out my savings and ISA accounts, and had also paid in a fraudulent loan in my name from somewhere else and transferred that back out.  This had all happened in under an hour.  My bank managed to reverse one big transfer but nothing else so far.  So currently I am about £4K down.  My bank has suspended my internet banking, cancelled my card and gone through my SOs (the scammer had also set up a SO yesterday). 

I have sat up all night panicking and berating myself for being so stupid.  I am sick with worry as my temp job also ends in a few weeks and my savings were all I have to live on until I can find another job.

My bank’s fraud dept are due to call me back today to discuss next steps but I have no idea what my rights are in this situation.  Please don’t tell me how stupid I have been, I already know that and have cried and shouted at myself since yesterday evening. Can anyone please advise next steps as to how/whether I can retrieve the situation?  I called my bank back within 20 mins of the fraudulent call ending and it took 25 mins to get through, so I reported as quickly as I could.  I am sick with worry.  Thanks so much in advance.  

masonic

It sounds likely you'd be refunded under the APP voluntary code if your bank has signed up to it and you didn't ignore warnings or talk to the fraud team and insist the transactions went through.

Two things to keep in mind to stop something like this happening again:

• Never ever trust caller ID on your phone
• Never ever disclose logon information or one time codes to anyone, including a bank employee
  

jimjames

Sorry to hear that, it's a good warning to anyone to be aware of. Main thing is that you reported it to your bank very quickly so if you need to escalate anything I'd definitely make note of how long it took to get through to them. Fraud calls should be their highest priority to deal with.

sheramber

My husband got a message on the answering machine saying it was our bank calling him  about a transaction on his card and asked him to call a number and key in his date of birth.

He was reluctant to do this so called the number on the back of his card.

They confirmed it was correct and as he had not returned the call they had cancelled the card.

It was, in fact a  fraudulent charge for the  purchase of a mobile phone top up, in a store in the north of England but we lived in the far north of Scotland.

He very rarely used the card but had used it in a local shop ,a couple of days prior to that charge. Prior to that he had not used it for months.

While it was very efficient of the bank to spot the charge it seems a very bad practice to query it with a telephone call requesting personal details. 

My son confirmed he had had a similar call and that was how the bank operated.

That was a few years ago so I don't know if they still operate that way.

Windsorcastle

masonic said:

It sounds likely you'd be refunded under the APP voluntary code if your bank has signed up to it and you didn't ignore warnings or talk to the fraud team and insist the transactions went through.

Two things to keep in mind to stop something like this happening again:

• Never ever trust caller ID on your phone
• Never ever disclose logon information or one time codes to anyone, including a bank employee
  

Thank you.  The bit that really caught me out was the caller ID.  I had a missed call from 'the bank' the previous day and did try to call them back then (AND it was their genuine number that it went through to!), and I was put on hold for over 25 minutes so I gave up, thinking they'd call me back if it was important.  Indeed 'they' did call me back yesterday with the scam call, but because I had already checked the first call had apparently come from the bank, my guard was down.  Despite thinking I'm very wary of scams and phishing, I had no idea that numbers could be cloned in this way.  I definitely didn't authorise any money to be moved during the fake call, so I'm praying that I will be covered by the APP code you mention.  Fingers crossed.

tacpot12

I think you have done what you can do about the money that has been taken. I expect it will be an expensive lesson. 

I would change your password and any PIN numbers associated with the account to ensure that only you remain in control of your account.

Windsorcastle

jimjames said:

Sorry to hear that, it's a good warning to anyone to be aware of. Main thing is that you reported it to your bank very quickly so if you need to escalate anything I'd definitely make note of how long it took to get through to them. Fraud calls should be their highest priority to deal with.

Thank you.  Yes, I have the record on my phone of how long it took me to get through to the bank, both the previous night when I had a missed call from the phony bank number, and last night when I immediately tried to report the suspected fraud.

masonic

Windsorcastle said:

masonic said:

It sounds likely you'd be refunded under the APP voluntary code if your bank has signed up to it and you didn't ignore warnings or talk to the fraud team and insist the transactions went through.

Two things to keep in mind to stop something like this happening again:

• Never ever trust caller ID on your phone
• Never ever disclose logon information or one time codes to anyone, including a bank employee
  

Thank you.  The bit that really caught me out was the caller ID.  I had a missed call from 'the bank' the previous day and did try to call them back then (AND it was their genuine number that it went through to!), and I was put on hold for over 25 minutes so I gave up, thinking they'd call me back if it was important.  Indeed 'they' did call me back yesterday with the scam call, but because I had already checked the first call had apparently come from the bank, my guard was down.  Despite thinking I'm very wary of scams and phishing, I had no idea that numbers could be cloned in this way.  I definitely didn't authorise any money to be moved during the fake call, so I'm praying that I will be covered by the APP code you mention.  Fingers crossed.

Yes the caller ID system is not verified. It is possible to set it to anything you like, just like you can make an email appear to come from any email address you like. It's important to understand this as it is one of the techniques scammers use to legitimise the call. Some make a point of asking you to check the number against the one on the back of your debit card. Banks could do more to raise awareness of the weakness of caller ID.

Windsorcastle

**UPDATE**  I'm not sure this could become any more farcical.  Following the bank scam on Tuesday that cleared my accounts out, the bank promised me that the Fraud Team would call me back within a 2 hour window the following day.  They asked me to set up a  'safeword' for that phone call, and assured me that the person calling me would give this word.  I asked half a dozen times whether the caller would volunteer the safeword first, etc, and was reassured that they would and that I should not speak to anyone who failed to provide the designated safe word.  

After a sleepless night and very stressed day, the 2 hour timeslot came and went with no call.  I eventually phoned the bank and they were unable to explain why the Fraud Team hadn't called, except to say they are 'very busy'.  I reluctantly agreed to reschedule the call to another 2 hour timeslot today.  This would be a full 48 hours from when I reported the fraud.  The CSA on this occasion checked that a safeword had been set up and confirmed it was in place.

During the agreed timeslot today, a call came through on my mobile with an 0345 number I did not recognise.  I answered and a man gave his name as _____________________, calling from First Direct.  He said it was about my 'allegation', and immediately asked me to go through security by confirming my middle name!  I refused to do so, explaining that he was meant to give me a safe word.  He mumbled and spluttered his way through a response saying, "Yes, well I can if I have a safe word here, let me have a look" etc.  After a few moments he said he could not see a safe word but he could help me if I answered his security question.  He requested my middle name again/   Again I declined, saying that in the light of the fraud that had happened in a very similar way, I was not prepared to give him any info without the safe word.  He got a bit huffy and said I was welcome to call Customer Services to confirm.  I did of course terminate the call.  The guy actually sounded more like a fraudster than the actual fraudster who duped me.

On eventually getting through to the bank, they confirmed he had been a genuine caller from the Fraud Team.  I explained the irony of the Fraud Team not abiding by their own protocols, despite me having been instructed not to speak to anyone without a safe word!!  The CS Assistant then went on to say that NO SAFE WORD HAD EVER BEEN RECORDED for this incident, despite two previous CSAs having assured me it was on the system. I was completely stunned and horrified.  I then asked to register a formal complaint and was put through to yet another employee to do that.  

So now, I have still not had any contact from the bank regarding this scam which has decimated my current account and savings, over 48 hours after it was reported to them.  AND they have either lied or are totally incompetent about the safeword.  AND they have breached their own security protocols when dealing with a customer who has recently been scammed and is understandably extremely wary.  

Is there any point in me contacting the Ombudsman or FCA yet or should I wait until an investigation has been completed?  Judging by the total shambles it has turned into, I have ZERO confidence that they have made any efforts to retrieve my money in the past two days.  Am so tired and beaten down by the whole saga now that I just feel like curling up into a ball and sobbing.  

masonic

The Ombudsman won't be able to take up your complaint until First Direct have had a chance to resolve it and either given you their final response or 8 weeks have elapsed.

Very poor show regarding the safe word. There will no doubt be recordings of your prior calls.

Windsorcastle

masonic said:

The Ombudsman won't be able to take up your complaint until First Direct have had a chance to resolve it and either given you their final response or 8 weeks have elapsed.

Very poor show regarding the safe word. There will no doubt be recordings of your prior calls.

Thank you, good to know.  I’m completely shocked about the safe word.  I did point out to them that all calls are recorded so I will certainly be asking for copies/transcripts in due course, if necessary.