Three text messages ‘could empty your bank account’

Experts are warning about three scam text messages that could empty your bank account after an elderly man was conned just weeks before he died. Online scams cost victims hundreds of billions worldwide in the past year, while more than half of adults said they had been targeted in the last 12 months.

Cybersecurity firm NordVPN said scam texts were becoming so polished that dodgy spelling and obvious mistakes are no longer reliable signs that something is fake. Instead, cybersecurity experts say there are now three major red flags Brits need to watch for in messages claiming to be from banks, delivery firms or official bodies like HMRC.

The first is urgency. Texts claiming your account will be closed, a payment will fail, or a parcel will be returned unless you act immediately are designed to panic people into making snap decisions.

The second is an unexpected link or phone number. If a message tells you to tap a link or call a number you were not expecting, experts say alarm bells should ring, especially if it claims to be from your bank, Royal Mail, Evri, DPD or a government department.

The third is fear. Scammers often try to frighten people into acting by warning of suspicious account activity, missed legal obligations or a security issue that needs sorting straight away.

Marijus Briedis, chief technology officer at NordVPN, said: “Scam texts might have been obvious once upon a time, but that’s not the case anymore. They can be highly sophisticated and very convincing at first glance, especially to the untrained eye or when you don’t receive them often.

“What usually gives them away is not bad spelling or strange formatting. It’s the pressure. The message wants you to do something quickly, before you’ve had time to stop and think.

“They also tend to play on emotion. The message is written to make you worry that money has left your account, you’ve missed a payment, or something has gone wrong with a delivery.”

He urged people not to click links, ring numbers in texts or let themselves be rushed, adding that any real issue can be checked through a company’s official website or app. NordVPN has launched a free scam checker tool allowing users to paste in a suspicious text or upload a screenshot to see whether it may be fraudulent.

The company said the service could scan plain text and image files and check links, email addresses and phone numbers against known malicious databases. This comes as a woman said her father-in-law was tricked into making a payment after fraudsters targeted him shortly before his death. The scam only came to light when relatives went through his paperwork.

Debbie Porter, managing director at Destination Digital Marketing, said: “My father-in-law was scammed a few weeks before he died and, being elderly, he was trusting. In going through his papers, we discovered a payment from his bank account that led to its discovery. The bank took no responsibility for this fraudulent payout because he had consented to the payment, which is the path the scammers are trying to lead you down.”

Debbie said recognising the hallmarks of a scam was the first step to stopping others suffering the same fate as her father-in-law.

She added: “Almost all urgent ‘pay now’ messages should be treated with a high degree of vigilance. If it comes from a business you have purchased from, then independently researching the company’s telephone number and calling them directly rather than from the text is a best practice every single time. This new scam checker tool from NordVPN is a great idea if it helps people avoid the trap my elderly father-in-law fell into.”

It comes amid growing concern about the role of artificial intelligence in online fraud, with experts warning that criminals can now generate more convincing messages at scale.

Dil Gujral, chief AI trainer at AI Now Academy, said: “If you think scam texts are bad, wait till they start using AI to impersonate family members for extortion.”

Rohit Parmar-Mistry, founder of Burton-on-Trent-based Pattrn Data, said scam messages were now carefully designed to look like everyday service updates.

He said: “Advice like this matters because scam texts now look and feel like real service messages. The language is polished, the sender name can be spoofed, and the story is designed to get you to act before you think. Urgency plus a link is the classic trap.

“My simple rule is: do not interact with the message. Do not tap the link, do not reply, and do not call the number in the text. Instead, go to the organisation via a channel you already trust.”

He said people should also switch on spam filtering, keep their phone and banking apps updated, set up account alerts and use two-factor authentication where possible. But not everyone agrees that the burden should be on the public alone.

Colette Mason, author and AI consultant at Clever Clogs AI in London, said scam texts were increasingly an “infrastructure problem” rather than simply one of personal awareness.

She said: “The person who falls for one isn’t careless. They’re a parent distracted at school pickup, or someone genuinely worried about a missed delivery. Until the infrastructure changes, ‘look out for urgency and dodgy links’ is a sticking plaster on a structural wound.”