The following alert has been received by a member of the public.
The screenshot of the image below is a sample of an attempted fraud / scam doing the rounds so please be on your guard.
In this instance, the SMS message was followed up with a phone call.
The individual hung up on the fraudster the first time but the fraudster called back shortly after.
The fraudster was male and called himself “Andrew”. He claimed to be calling from “card services”. He also correctly identified his intended victim by their first name and claimed he knew the first 4 digits of their card number.
Pressure their victims
The fraudster instructed their would-be victim they should contact ‘card services’. In an attempt to rush the victim, they said it was imperative they act immediately as the ‘transaction’ they were calling about occurred within the previous 15 minutes.
This can be a common fraudster approach where they seek to panic their would-be victims to act quickly.
Intimidate their victims
The fraudster then went on to create an even greater sense of panic and urgency, telling the would-be victim that if they didn’t act, they would be held responsible for lost funds and fraudulent transactions.
Again, this is a typical fraudster tactic. In addition to rushing and panicking their would-be victims, they also attempt to intimidate them.
In this particular case, the individual terminated the call. The fraudster did not call back a third time.
We we can all become victims.
The risk of fraud is an ever growing threat to the financial wellbeing of victims of all ages. People can be vulnerable for many reasons. Time pressure. Financial pressure. Social pressure. Lack of financial literacy. These can all be contributing factors to why people can become victims of fraud. Someone that is under time pressure may be easily duped into believing a fraudulent text is real because they do not have the time to stop and consider the purpose of the text.
Regulated businesses have standards
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NO MEMBER OF YOUR BANK OF CREDIT UNION WILL EVER CALL YOU SEEKING CARD INFORMATION OR YOUR PIN.
Please continue to stay alert.
Frank Conway is qualified financial advisor and the Founder of MoneyWhizz.
MoneyWhizz offers a range of financial wellbeing seminars on building financial resilience. One of its latest seminars, Preventing Fraud and Financial Exploitation is ideal for audiences of all ages, including those in retirement.
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