Nationwide has warned its customers, urging them to follow the simple steps
Nationwide has issued an update to its millions of UK members, and consumer champions at Which? are urging people to act. Doing so could protect your cash, experts have said.
It comes as the watchdog has said there is a scam circulating, involving fraudsters pretending to be the police. In fact, some people could even get a follow-up call from someone pretending to be from ‘their bank’. Which? explains: “In a bid to combat bank impersonation scams, Nationwide has become the latest bank to launch its own caller verification service.
“Nationwide’s ‘Call Checker’ allows its customers to verify whether they’re on the phone with the bank during calls. This new feature is integrated into Nationwide’s app.”
The scam is being dubbed the ‘Heathrow scam call’ and works by a scammer pretending to be from ‘Heathrow Police Station’. They will then say that someone has been arrested at Heathrow Airport for carrying stolen personal documents to try and scare you.
They may inform you that they have personal documents, such as your driving licence. They may even have your birth date and name to make it seem legit, but they have instead obtained this information through a data breach.
Which? added: “The caller provides a case number and sometimes a badge number, making the call seem legitimate. Some recipients mentioned the caller speaking about specific crypto or financial companies that the criminal may have been investing in using your details. This raises concerns about potential identity theft.
“This scam typically concludes with you receiving another call from the same scammer, posing as a bank or other financial company, claiming that your identity has been used to open an account. The aim is to get more of your personal details.”
Nationwide’s new feature
The building society explains: “Call Checker gives customers confidence that they are speaking to a genuine Nationwide colleague. It complements its existing Scam Checker service, which is used by 100k people and prevents £300k a month from being lost.
“The new feature enables customers to instantly confirm whether the call they’re on is genuine through Nationwide’s banking app. Customers can open the app, go to “More”, and “Call Checker”, and instantly see whether they’re on a call with Nationwide.”
Follow these simple steps and you should see a notification that either reads “You’re on a call with Alex” or “You’re not on a call with us.” If it’s the former six word message, you know you can trust the person on the other end of the phone.
Jim Winters, Director of Economic Crime at Nationwide said: “Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, and impersonation calls are one of the most common ways they trick people into handing over money.
“We are programmed to trust people and when someone uses clever tactics and well-practised scripts – often putting us under pressure or making us panic – it can be hard to know who to trust. Our Call Checker feature gives our customers peace of mind by confirming if a call is genuine, or not. It’s a simple and effective step that could prevent someone from becoming the next crime statistic.”
You can read more about the new Nationwide ‘Call Checker’ feature here.
