Fraud warnings issued to Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds customers over viral scam

Fraud warnings have been issued to online banking customers after a rise in text message scams targeting savings accounts as the tax-year draws to a close.

Tens of thousands of scam messages, purporting to be from Barclays, Halifax, HSBC and Lloyds have been issued in the past week – asking account holders to verify suspicious transactions.

The scam texts are framed as security messages requesting confirmation of a payment made from a digital device not used before.

In another spate of messages, the texts ask the recipient to tap a link to confirm payment to a named person.

All of the phoney messages contain fraudulent links that request sensitive information such as online banking details and full names, putting the person at risk of theft and banking fraud.

This alert arrives fresh on the back of warnings that criminals are using Royal Mail branding to intercept people’s details.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said the messages claim a parcel is awaiting delivery but a “settlement” must first be paid.

The messages include a link to a fraudulent Royal Mail website which asks the recipient to enter their bank details to release their parcel.

The CTSI warned that the rise in online shopping means more people are likely to be waiting for parcels and deliveries, making them more vulnerable to this kind of fraud.

Speaking on bank fraud scams, 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.

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“Fraudsters change the form and methods of their scams to match shifting consumer behaviour. The surge in online shopping and payments means that the public must be more vigilant when making online payments and receiving messages claiming to be from their bank.

“If you receive a suspicious text like this, please contact your bank directly and verify with them. Also, forward any scam texts to 7726, which is a free reporting service ran by Ofcom. We must protect ourselves and others from these scams but also provide vital intelligence to authorities.”

To report scams, contact Action Fraud, or if in Scotland, contact Police Scotland.

To report email scams, contact the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) by emailing report@phishing.gov.uk.

For consumer advice, please call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.

How to check if a message is legitimate

Reputable firms such as banks and Royal Mail will never ask you to enter your bank details via text or email.

If in doubt, delete the message and call the official customer services line.

• Don’t assume anyone who’s sent you an email or text message – or has called your phone or left you a voicemail message – is who they say they are.

• If a phone call or voicemail, email or text message asks you to make a payment, log in to an online account or offers you a deal, be cautious.

• If in doubt, check it’s genuine by asking the company itself. Never call numbers or follow links provided in suspicious emails; find the official website or customer support number using a separate browser and search engine.

Are there any warning signs?

• Fraudulent messages will often contain inaccurate spelling or grammar and images will often be of poor quality. They may use odd ‘spe11lings’ or ‘cApiTals’ in the email subject to fool your spam filter.

• If they know your email address but not your name, it’ll begin with something like ‘To our valued customer’, or ‘Dear…’ followed by your email address.

• The website or email address doesn’t look right; authentic website addresses are usually short and don’t use irrelevant words or phrases. Businesses and organisations don’t use web-based addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo.

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