NatWest text message? scam?

crystalmooniris

i received a text from natwest saying "please call 08453039014 as soon as pssible quoting reference ******* . Alternatively please visit www.natwest.com/paybycard. it looked dodgy to me so i phoned my branch and the woman i spoke to knew nothing about it and there were no notices on my account that any action was required.

i went on the website and that looks genuine but not on closer inspection and the reference is to make a payment not to explain why i was contacted.

then today i was phoned 3 times by 08453039015 i missed all the calls.

Does anyone know if this might be a scam or genuine, like i said i did contact my bank but it was just my local branch and maybe she was unaware.

It goes without saying i will not be making any payments til i get it in writing and contact my branch to confirm. i'd just like some advice/info on the genuiness of this.

LittleVoice

Do NatWest have your mobile number?

Are you in the process of buying something - by phone, mail order or internet.

Does anyone else have a card on your account?

Do you have any insurance products from them?

Are you supposed to be making regular payments to them for any reason?

www.natwest.com is proper website for Natwest.

mountainchrisriver

Google that number... makes for interesting reading... :eek:

Personally would just ignore it... if your branch know nothing of it then wouldn't worry...

cashprincezac

Sounds dodgy to me

crystalmooniris

LittleVoice wrote: »

Do NatWest have your mobile number?

Are you in the process of buying something - by phone, mail order or internet.

Does anyone else have a card on your account?

Do you have any insurance products from them?

Are you supposed to be making regular payments to them for any reason?

As far as i'm aware they don't have my number and no to the rest of the questions. so i'm baffled.

What confuses me about whether or not this is a scam is i have searched the number and a in a few places it says that 08453039015 is birmingham collections centre, but i know my bank account is fine and in credit.

LittleVoice

crystalmooniris wrote: »

As far as i'm aware they don't have my number and no to the rest of the questions. so i'm baffled.

What confuses me about whether or not this is a scam is i have searched the number and a in a few places it says that 08453039015 is birmingham collections centre, but i know my bank account is fine and in credit.

Well, if Natwest don't have your mobile number how could they send you a text message - or does your home phone have the facility to interpret the text?

Sounds more like the emails I get purporting to come from PayPal, NatWest, Nationwide PLC, American Express etc when I don't have accounts with them. Sometimes they appear to come from financial companies where I do have accounts so it is just by chance that there is any kind of match.

natweststaffmember

It's genuine, that number is Birmingham Collections centre. They are chasing you because either the account is overdrawn substantially(I do know the minimum but I think it would be inappropriate to post cos people sometimes are a bit ott on the morals).EDIT: or that a payment plan is in operation and the payment is due soon and they may be looking to increase it.
There would be no notes on the account that the branch can see because they have a separate notes system that the branch cannot view.

crystalmooniris

natweststaffmember wrote: »

It's genuine, that number is Birmingham Collections centre. They are chasing you because either the account is overdrawn substantially(I do know the minimum but I think it would be inappropriate to post cos people sometimes are a bit ott on the morals).EDIT: or that a payment plan is in operation and the payment is due soon and they may be looking to increase it.
There would be no notes on the account that the branch can see because they have a separate notes system that the branch cannot view.

It is absolutely NOT genuine i have spoken to the bank again this time the lending department they assured me my account is not overdrawn and that the actual number for brum collection centre ends 12 not 15!!so it appears a very good well thought out scam

setmefree

Whether it's genuine or not,they are in a clear breach of the OFT collection guidelines.
I think the highlight area's proves that quite nicely

2 UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES
Communication

2.1 It is unfair to communicate, in whatever form, with consumers in an unclear,
inaccurate or misleading manner.

2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. use of official looking documents intended or likely to mislead
debtors as to their status, for example, documents made to resemble court
claims.

b. leaving out or presenting information in such a way that it
creates a false or misleading impression or exploits debtors'
lack of knowledge

c. those contacting debtors not making clear who they are, who
they work for, what their role is, what the purpose of the
contact is

d. unnecessary and unhelpful use of legal and technical language, for
example, use of Latin phrases

e. failing to provide debtors or creditors with information on status
of debts, for example, not providing requested balance statements when
reasonably requested

f. contacting debtors at unreasonable times

g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect
of when and where to contact them, for example, shift workers who
ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day

h. asking or instructing debtors to make contact on premium rate
telephone numbers

Biggles

It's perfectly genuine, it's Natwest Moneysense, they quote the 9015 number in their booklet, http://www.natwestf2f.com/natwest/docs/NatWest_MoneySense_web.pdf, in case you don't believe the Natwest staff member above.

As to why they're ringing you, why not ring them to find out? You've nothing to lose except a couple of pence on the phone call. And there could be a problem you don't know about.

setmefree

Biggles wrote: »

It's perfectly genuine, it's Natwest Moneysense, they quote the 9015 number in their booklet, http://www.natwestf2f.com/natwest/docs/NatWest_MoneySense_web.pdf, in case you don't believe the Natwest staff member above.

As to why they're ringing you, why not ring them to find out? You've nothing to lose except a couple of pence on the phone call. And there could be a problem you don't know about.

The original first post states as follows

crystalmooniris wrote: »

i received a text from natwest saying "please call 08453039014 as soon as pssible quoting reference ******* . Alternatively please visit www.natwest.com/paybycard. it looked dodgy to me so i phoned my branch and the woman i spoke to knew nothing about it and there were no notices on my account that any action was required.

Different number to yours, and that web link most certainly looks dodgy, oh hang on i av just received a text telling me to go on a link and make a payment, no reason what it is for.
If this is genuine then Natwest should be completely ashamed of themselves and reported to the OFT