Barclays scam warning: Actor in tears as he recalls how he fell victim to convincing scam | Personal Finance | Finance
Adam, who is well known for previously playing Nick Tilsley in Coronation Street, said he felt “like a complete moron” but wanted to tell others just how clever these fraudsters have become. The scammers pretended to be from the Barclays fraud team and even “ghosted” the official Barclays fraud line number.
However, even if people hang up and call back, fraudsters are able to stay on the line.
Adam said the best thing to do is to call them back from a completely different phone.
He said: “The most convincing thing for me was the fact they knew too much about my bank account for them not to be Barclays.
“You can’t engage – if somebody rings you just hang up the phone and call the fraud department yourself – because the second you engage with them you will lose.”
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Barclays has since returned Adam and Nicky’s money but the couple said they knew other people who were still waiting and, unfortunately, not everyone gets their money back.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We have every sympathy with our customer who was the victim of an impersonation scam.
“Scammers will often make calls and text messages look like they’re coming from a well-known company or organisation, such as a bank or the police.
“We encourage customers to be cautious of any unexpected text messages, calls and emails they receive and to be extra cautious if they are asked to call a number or open a link.”
Barclays also advised: “No genuine bank would request customers to transfer money to a ‘safe account’ – we advise any customers to ignore anyone who asks to do this, whether it’s by phone, email or any other method, and to immediately alert us using the ‘Direct call’ option in the Barclays app.
“Customers should never reveal personal information, their PIN, PINsentry codes, mobile activation codes, QR codes, one-time passcodes or Online Banking passcodes.”
People are also being warned to watch out for a British Gas scam offering help towards energy bills.
The fake email can seem genuine as it uses the official British Gas logo and branding, however a red flag is that it’s not addressed to a specific person, just an email address.
Have you been the victim of a scam? Express.co.uk would like to hear from you. People can get in touch via [email protected].
