Keeping you and your money safe is our top priority, and we have stringent safeguarding measures in place to help protect all our customers. But there are also steps you need to take to protect yourself from fraud.
To help you identify potential scams and stay safe, we’re publishing a series of articles on fraud protection. This article looks at impersonation fraud.
What is impersonation fraud?
Impersonation fraud is when a scammer pretends to be someone you trust. They may impersonate:
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a friend or family member;
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a professional you’re working with, like a lawyer/solicitor or estate agent;
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or someone from a trusted organisation, such as your bank or the police.
One tactic used by these criminals is ‘spoofing’, whereby they use technology to make their phone number or email address appear as though it is from a genuine source. Similarly, they may ‘clone’ an organisation’s website – creating an identical copy – in an effort to deceive the people they target.
An example of impersonation fraud
Steve was buying a house in Spain. He was working with a Spanish-based solicitor who was helping him to navigate the purchase.
One day, Steve got an email from his solicitor saying that he needed to pay the deposit. They provided bank details and said that the deposit would go into a holding account, separate from the solicitor’s firm, to keep it safe.
The name on the account didn’t match the solicitor’s, but Steve assumed that was because it was a holding account. After all, the email had come from the same address as the other emails. He transferred the money.
Two weeks later, Steve’s solicitor emailed again saying it was time to send the deposit. When Steve said he had already paid the deposit, the solicitor said they had neither requested the payment nor received any money from him. A scammer had intercepted the emails and impersonated Steve’s solicitor to steal his money.
Five tips on how to protect yourself
1. Be overly cautious
The first and most important thing is to always err on the side of caution. There are certain red flags you can look out for, but it’s best to be wary whenever you’re dealing with payments – particularly large ones – and matters relating to your bank account.
If you are unsure, suspicious, or have any doubts at all then stop and take a step back. Scammers often try to rush and panic you. Stepping back can give you the clarity and space to check details and think things through.
2. Confirm the person’s identity
If someone is contacting you claiming to be a trusted person, make sure you verify their identity.
You can do this by ending the conversation and then contacting that person or organisation directly using an official, verified email or phone number.
3. Think twice before clicking a link
Similarly, always double check any links sent to you via email or text.
If you do click a link, look at the URL – the web address – to make sure it is correct. Some scammers use small variations on spelling or punctuation to make a site seem legitimate, such as web.site.com versus website.com.
As with confirming someone’s identity, its best to make your own way to the website by typing in the URL yourself. That way you can be confident you’re in the right place.
Likewise, never let anyone take remote access of your computer following an unsolicited call or email.
4. Be suspicious if payment details change
While it’s always best to be cautious and follow the advice above, there are also some red flags you can look out for.
If someone who you’ve paid before provides you with new bank details, alarm bells should be ringing. Before sending any money, verify their identity and check that the bank details are correct and officially registered to the person or organisation you want to pay.
5. Be suspicious if someone pressures you
As mentioned above, scammers will try to pressure you emotionally to act without thinking things through. They might try to create a sense of urgency, danger or panic to spur you into action.
Some common tactics are making an urgent request, perhaps to pay an invoice or to help a friend who’s stranded overseas, or saying that your money is at risk and needs to be moved to a ‘safe account’. If anyone ever says you need to move money into a safe account, they’re trying to scam you.
If someone targets you
If you think you’ve been targeted for impersonation fraud, report it to the organisation concerned. Let them know as soon as possible that someone is pretending to be them and targeting their customers.
You should also report the incident to Action Fraud, the centre for reporting fraud and cybercrime in the UK, or the relevant police body in the country you’re in.
More information on impersonation fraud
You can find more information about impersonation fraud from Take Five, an anti-fraud campaign run by the trade association UK Finance.
The Action Fraud website, linked above, also has lots of useful advice, guidance, and free tools to help you protect yourself.
Victim Support can help you if you’ve been a victim of impersonation fraud. They also have a wealth of resources and tips on their website.
Finally, if you’re transferring money with us and have any security concerns, or if something doesn’t seem quite right, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.
