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As the cost of living crisis continues to soar, customers are being warned of fraudsters trying to steal their hard-earned cash.
Impersonation scams happen when a fraudster contacts an individual pretending to be from a trusted organisation such as the bank or the police.
The scammers work to try and convince people to send them large amounts of money after gaining their trust.
Fraudsters are cold calling potential victims claiming their account is compromised and that they must urgently transfer their funds, often to an alternative “safe” account.
One scammer impersonated Santander’s Head of Fraud Risk Management Chris Ainsley.
Santander customer, Mrs Wilson (name and some details changed to preserve anonymity), received a text message from a number asking her to confirm a £500 payment and she responded immediately to confirm “no”.
Mrs Wilson then received a call from a spoofed caller ID appearing as a Santander number. The caller introduced themselves as Mr Ainsley but it was in fact a fraudster impersonating him.
The fraudster thanked Mrs Wilson for confirming the £500 payment was fraudulent but claimed further payments were being attempted.
The scammer convinced Mrs Wilson to transfer the rest of her savings into a ‘safe account’ that the bank had opened as soon as she could.
After cross-checking Chris Ainsley’s name on LinkedIn, on the instruction of the impersonator pretending to be Chris, Mrs Wilson transferred over £60,000 in funds to the fraudster’s account.
She was also instructed by the fraudster to mislead the bank about the true reasons for her payments, this was to avoid the bank uncovering the scam.
The scammer then ended the call and cut all contact. After a few days when Mrs Wilson didn’t receive her new online banking details, she contacted Santander and was informed she had unfortunately been a victim of a scam.
There has been £10.2 million worth of impersonation scams between January-March this year, up 11 percent from the same period last year data from Santander has shown.
Britons are urged to remain vigilant as the average reported loss per customer was £6,906 for this period.
Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk management at Santander said: “Scammers leave no stone unturned in tricking victims, and as somebody working with colleagues across Santander to protect customers from fraud, it was quite a surprise to discover scammers impersonating me.
“Imitation is certainly not a form of flattery in this case, but instead a timely reminder that nobody from a bank or legitimate organisation would ever attempt to rush you into transferring funds into another account.
Mrs Wilson was fortunate enough to recover the lost funds however not all victims are this lucky,
Santander states customers should be alert on how to protect themselves from becoming the victim of a scam.
Mr Ainsley concluded: “People should not hesitate to cut contact with anyone they are suspicious of and refer to trusted sources of information such as their bank’s website or by phoning 159 where they can be put through to customer support.”
What to do
If someone receives unexpected contact from their bank asking them to urgently act – Britons should wait. The bank suggests individuals should “stop, wait five minutes, and call your bank by dialling 159 or using the number on the back of your card.” If someone thinks they’ve already been the victim of an impersonation scam, they can report it to their bank straight away.
How to protect yourself from impersonation scams
Santander states:
“Never withdraw or transfer money out of your account if you’re instructed to do so for security reasons. No bank will ever ask you to do this.
“Never give out your full personal or security information over the phone, in an email or by responding to a text message.
“Never rely on caller ID as the sole means of identification, the number can be spoofed to look like a recognised number.
“Never share a One Time Passcode with another person, not even a bank employee.
“Never enter your Online Banking details after clicking on a link in an email or text message.
“Remember, just because a caller claims to be someone, an internet or social media search won’t actually confirm that it is the same person you are speaking to.”
