We have been scammed, almost. Thankfully everything turned out well, although I admit to having been a tad worried at the time. In fact, I might even write to say “thank you” to the bank.
A couple of days ago I was out and about and my phone buzzed with a notification, so did my watch which said it was from our bank. It mentioned suspicious activity and to expect a phone call. I ignored it but did wonder about it as, first glance, it looked genuine.
Next, an automated phone call, telling me it was our bank, mentioning me by name and correctly quoted the last four digits of my credit card. This was either starting to sound like a genuine attempt by the bank to contact me, or, a more sophisticated scam.
Either way I ignored it, until I got home. I checked the banks’s app and our accounts looked okay until I got to the credit card. There were six payments, all in the “pending” section. They were all to the same company and all for just £5 or £6 each; the kind of payment which could easily slip through the net.
At this point I was starting to feel a little anxious as I’d never been in this situation before. I tried to balance these thoughts of financial ruin and so on, with some positive thoughts. After all, the bank’s systems had indeed recognised some suspicious activity and had done something about it. Secondly, we have insurance for this kind of thing, should we ever fall victim to a scam.
I called the bank. Went through some security questions to check I was indeed the customer. This was followed up by me asking a security question of the bank, so I knew they really were our bank and not some clever impersonating going on. I also confirmed I had not made those purchases and agreed for the bank to block those payments. I went a step further and asked the bank to cancel the credit card completely and send a new one.
Looking again at the bank’s app, I can see the credit card has been cancelled – it has disappeared from view. So, I believe all is well.
Phew!
Phew, that was close.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Every year our bank processes hundreds, if not thousands, of transactions for us. Standing Orders, Direct Debits, money transfers between accounts and BACS payments. Plus all of the purchases in shops, cafes, online etc. and generally using my phone or watch – Rachel too. Occasionally we use a physical card.
With all of these transactions, surely we shouldn’t be surprised if someone tried to scam us? Well no, we shouldn’t be surprised as such but at least the systems worked to prevent anything untoward happening and yet it did depend on me reacting correctly. It would have been so easy to assume the bank’s alert was a scam in itself and I could easily have ignored it.
Also it is a reminder that we expect a lot from our High Street bank, one that keeps our personal financial life going with little direct cost. We do depend on this so much and I am thankful they did a good job. As a rule, we are always quick to complain when things have gone wrong but this time, they did well. I think I might even write and express my thanks.