VISA and Mastercard are two popular providers used by millions of people, but the familiarity of the brands is currently being exploited. Britons are being urged to stay on their guard when it comes to a new scam call relating to activity when it comes to their account. The phone call arriving out of the blue claims to derive from the “VISA and Mastercard department” of the recipient’s bank.
It states there has been a transaction of £600 which has taken place minutes ago on a person’s account, and that they may need to take action.
Of course, it is likely many people may be concerned about the security of their bank account in a circumstance such as this one.
Individuals will, in most cases, want to rectify an issue such as this, and may be persuaded to follow the process.
However, it is also likely they will be redirected to an operator who may convince them to part with personal and sensitive information.
READ MORE: State pension payments will be issued early for some today - check now
For individuals who receive unsolicited calls such as this one, there are steps which are worth taking to protect oneself.
Firstly, Britons are always encouraged to check with their bank via its official channels which can be searched independently, rather than relying on instructions from a call.
VISA has urged Britons to only communicate with their bank through “official, secure channels with password or identity protection”.
A bank or card provider will never contact someone asking for their PIN or password, or tell them to transfer money to a separate account, and this is something Mastercard have, too, confirmed.
As such, if this kind of information is requested, it can often be a sure fire sign someone is speaking to a scammer.
Individuals who have fears they may have fallen victim to a scam are encouraged to reach out to their bank at the earliest possible availability.
This could help in stopping criminals getting their hands on hard-earned cash before it is too late.
In addition, calls of this nature can also be reported to Action Fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland in Scotland.
Several individuals shared their concerns and warnings about the scam via social media channels.
One person wrote: “Yet another phone scam attempt. Recorded message to my mobile - female with an English accent.
“It tells me ‘Hello, this is the Visa and Mastercard security and fraud department of your bank, calling regarding the payment of £600 made on your card 15 minutes ago’.
“Of course, my bank knows what bank it is, they wouldn’t just say ‘your bank’, and the £600 was part of the recording, so the same message must play to all recipients. Very clearly an attempted fraud.”
Another penned: “I just got a call from the ‘Department of VISA and Mastercard’. These phone scams have gotten incredibly obnoxious.”
And a third stated: “I had what seemed like a very genuine call from the VISA fraud department today but I quickly realised it wasn’t.”
No comments:
Post a Comment