Prank Bank App Scam😣

f.castle

Hi everyone,

I didn’t know this was a thing but I got totally Conned by my naivity, and sophistication of scam.

the scammer used a prank bank apk which mimics a bank account on android phones, and can be edited to look like a normal banking app.
chances are they will use a different brand of bank to you so you couldn’t tell if it’s legit unless it’s the same as yours.

The scammer makes you feel confident but allowing you out your own details in and sending the money. Instantly the funds decrease from their account.

however nothing is transferred as it’s just a fake app.

I waited for the transfer it never arrived. The person was so reassuring and logically I thought well I’ve done it and seen it leave so it’s probably making it’s way to me.


how stupid am I…to feel pressure in my own home and let the person walk out with £500 of technology.

the money never showed up.

I feel very embarrassed, last thing I want is any “you shouldn’t have let him leave” yes you’re right, I don’t know what came over me…

anyway the prank bank apk is very realistic please don’t be fooled like me😣

The payees I saw in his fake account were the details of the other people he tried to scam….

mug written on my forehead…

powerful_Rogue

f.castle said:

Hi everyone,

I didn’t know this was a thing but I got totally Conned by my naivity, and sophistication of scam.

the scammer used a prank bank apk which mimics a bank account on android phones, and can be edited to look like a normal banking app.
chances are they will use a different brand of bank to you so you couldn’t tell if it’s legit unless it’s the same as yours.

The scammer makes you feel confident but allowing you out your own details in and sending the money. Instantly the funds decrease from their account.

however nothing is transferred as it’s just a fake app.

I waited for the transfer it never arrived. The person was so reassuring and logically I thought well I’ve done it and seen it leave so it’s probably making it’s way to me.


how stupid am I…to feel pressure in my own home and let the person walk out with £500 of technology.

the money never showed up.

I feel very embarrassed, last thing I want is any “you shouldn’t have let him leave” yes you’re right, I don’t know what came over me…

anyway the prank bank apk is very realistic please don’t be fooled like me😣

The payees I saw in his fake account were the details of the other people he tried to scam….

mug written on my forehead…

Heard of  many people get caught out by this.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/scammers-use-fake-banking-app-19951828

Grumpy_chap

Thanks to the OP for alerting this - I was not aware.

At first I was a bit confused as to how this worked, but right at the end it clicked.  You are selling a second hand car, the person does the transfer, takes your car, money never reaches your account.

Aylesbury_Duck

An actual scam, rather than the many stories that appear on here accompanied by "SCAM!" when they're clearly not.

Horrible scam, OP and I'm sorry you were caught out.  I suspect many would be.  Presumably you've reported it?  Not that Action Fraud or the police are likely to have the resources to deal with it, but at least it gets logged in the statistics.

You have nothing at all to go on?  Email address? Facebook identity?  Anything you might use to track the person down?

f.castle

Aylesbury_Duck said:

An actual scam, rather than the many stories that appear on here accompanied by "SCAM!" when they're clearly not.

Horrible scam, OP and I'm sorry you were caught out.  I suspect many would be.  Presumably you've reported it?  Not that Action Fraud or the police are likely to have the resources to deal with it, but at least it gets logged in the statistics.

You have nothing at all to go on?  Email address? Facebook identity?  Anything you might use to track the person down?

Yes I’ve reported it but action fraud say it’ll take upto 28 days to investigate. The person is long gone by then.

I managed to get some pictures however he had his mask on and was very cautious about when to take it off. Someone on Facebook messaged me to say they tried it on him too but were more resilient in not handing over the item.

I screenshotted the Facebook account but it was fake, suppose anything can be made to look real these days. 

I’ve asked neighbours for any cctv of him and the car he got into. 

I’ve now done some research into safe bank transfers and getting people to first transfer a small initial amount to make sure the payment goes through.

appreciate this may be basic knowledge for some people….I was new and naive to this.

user1977

f.castle said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

An actual scam, rather than the many stories that appear on here accompanied by "SCAM!" when they're clearly not.

Horrible scam, OP and I'm sorry you were caught out.  I suspect many would be.  Presumably you've reported it?  Not that Action Fraud or the police are likely to have the resources to deal with it, but at least it gets logged in the statistics.

You have nothing at all to go on?  Email address? Facebook identity?  Anything you might use to track the person down?

I’ve now done some research into safe bank transfers and getting people to first transfer a small initial amount to make sure the payment goes through.

No no no, that's only going to prove that you've got the £1 or whatever, not that the rest of the money is going to reach you. You're thinking of the precaution if you're sending the money and want to make sure you're using the correct details.

If you're receiving the money, then what you do is pretty straightforward - you wait until you actually see all of the money in your account.

born_again

Moral of the story.
Never part with the goods till the funds are in your account.
The scammer will not wait around.

In reality Action Fraud will do nothing other than pass to local police force, who may or may not look at it.

pbartlett

i am no expert but don't you have to go through quite a lot of settings hoops and bypass android security to install any non-playstore apk, scam or not ?

android normally will simply not allow you to install a rogue apk.

born_again

pbartlett said:

i am no expert but don't you have to go through quite a lot of settings hoops and bypass android security to install any non-playstore apk, scam or not ?

android normally will simply not allow you to install a rogue apk.

Just tick  enable the Install from Unknown Sources. Pretty easy. 

Remember this is on the other person phone & not the seller.

TadleyBaggie

Often in these types of threads the word "scam" in the title is misused, however in this case I would dispute the use of the work "prank". This suggests a jolly jape.

user1977

TadleyBaggie said:

Often in these types of threads the word "scam" in the title is misused, however in this case I would dispute the use of the work "prank". This suggests a jolly jape.

Yes, but I think that's what's used in the name of the relevant apps - one of these things marketed as "novelty" items which obviously have other uses.