Nationwide customer devastated after losing £1,000 in banking app scam | Personal Finance | Finance

A woman was left devastated after scammers were able to take her hard-earned cash via her mobile banking app.

Rose, from Cheltenham, was visiting her son and his partner for afternoon tea when the scammer struck.

She received a phone call from someone she thought was from her building society, Nationwide.

‌The person on the phone told her there was fraudulent activity happening in her bank account which left Rose feeling anxious “straight away”.

Rose explained her situation on BBC’s Morning Live today stating that the scammers seemed so genuine which made them more convincing.

The person on the phone knew her name and the last four numbers on her bank card, so she was convinced it was someone from the bank.

‌Rose said: “I really believed he was calling from the bank, he sounded reassuring and I trusted him.”

Once the scammer had gained her trust, they pushed for access to her main account via her mobile phone online banking app.

They asked for three of the six numbers used to log into her online banking which she gave.

Next, the scammer wanted the long number on her credit card, but before she could read it out, her son told her to stop and call the bank back using the number on the back of her house as he suspected something was wrong.

After calling her bank, Rose was left devastated as she found out she had fallen victim to a scam.

Rose continued: “In the five minutes it took me to get through to the bank, the scammer managed to disconnect the app on my telephone and he managed to take about £1,000.

“It was frightening really and I thought they were going to take everything.”

Fortunately Nationwide was able to refund Rose everything she lost. She’s determined not to be caught out again.

Rose concluded: “This has made me very cautious about this happening.

“I have taken the banking app off my phone and I would like to make sure no one else gets scammed in the same way.

“If someone rings you up from the bank don’t give them any information.”

Morning Live will continue tomorrow on BBC One at 9:15am.