Santander issues advice after ‘realistic’ scam email included customer’s card details | Personal Finance | Finance

Santander UK spoke to Express.co.uk about how scammers may have found a victim’s banking information. Scammers sometimes include personal information in a fake message purportedly from a bank, in a bid to get victims to hand over further details or send them money.

Twitter user Alan Green (@alangreen1958) contacted Santander using the social media platform after he was targeted by scammers.

He said in a tweet: “Had an email from mobilepayments@santander and text cancelling my google pay card, they gave last four digits of card but smells like a scam.”

Santander responded to say the message was a scam. The bank told Express.co.uk it would not be able to confirm how the customer’s details were accessed by the scammers without talking to them.

A Santander spokesperson said: “Fraudsters will often use personal or financial detail previously obtained through phishing, smishing or vishing to make their approach to potential victims look more convincing.

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“If customers are in any doubt at all about whether a message is genuine, they should get in touch by calling the Stop Scams number on 159.”

The Twitter user said he would send Santander the email he had received. He added: “This was a realistic one, nearly had me fooled.”

Scammers will often craft a message using a bank’s logo and official terminology to try and dupe a person into think the message is genuine.

The message may say a person’s account is at risk and they need to transfer their funds or that a payment has been blocked and they need to confirm their details.

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A person will never be asked to withdraw, transfer or send money from their account, by either their bank, the police or any genuine organisation.

A Santander customer from Edinburgh recently lost £22,000 to scammers who called her pretending to be from the bank.

An investigation by Santander established money had been sent to a fraudster’s account and they were able to recover almost £17,000.

They were unable to recover the other £5,000 as it had already been transferred to other accounts.

Chris Ainsley, head of Fraud Risk Management at Santander UK said previously: “Scammers are ruthless.

“Taking on the persona of someone from your bank, the police, or even a utility provider – criminals will do what they can to convince you to part with your money.”