Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds Bank customers warned about convincing new phoney text message scam – how to spot it
CUSTOMERS with the UK's major banks are being warned about phoney text message scams that could steal your personal details and cash.
The warning by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) affects customers with Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds Bank.
It comes after the trading standards association said it had received "considerable evidence" of banking scams sent via text messages.
The scam texts typically pretend to be security messages from a bank requesting confirmation of a payment made from a device not used before.
They also asked the customer to tap a link to confirm a payment to a named person.
All of the messages included links that requested your bank login details, and by giving yours away, you'd put yourself at serious risk of fraud.
The warning comes as more and more people make digital payments, often through mobile phones, during the coronavirus crisis.
We've explained how to spot that the text messages are fake below.
Katherine Hart, a lead officer at CTSI, said: "I am witnessing so many reports of this scam; indeed, I have received multiple versions of it on my phone.
"The public is very vulnerable to this type of fraud, especially when more people rely on online payments.
A spokesperson for HSBC told The Sun: "We would encourage customers to keep abreast of the latest scams to help protect themselves from these unscrupulous criminals.
"They can do this on a that they can easily bookmark and revisit."
While Jim Winters, head of fraud at Barclays, added: "As fraudsters and their techniques become increasingly sophisticated, it’s more important than ever to stay vigilant to the threat of scams.
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Earlier this month, fraudsters used the census survey to target vulnerable Brits to scam them out of thousands of pounds.
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We also reported how scammers are targeting the millions of shoppers waiting for a parcel with a new Royal Mail text message con.
Fraudsters are also using bogus NHS emails and texts to make people pay for these vaccines or hand over their bank details.