Natwest scam: Britons urged to ‘be vigilant’ as many attacked by suspicious text message | Personal Finance | Finance


NatWest is unfortunately just one of the many banks fraudsters are using to attack unsuspecting members of the public through fraudulent activity. Within the last day, several individuals have reported receiving a text message which purports to be from the bank, informing them a new payee has been set up on their account. The text message goes on to urge individuals to take action to, ironically, secure their account.

The bank posted a reply on its social media account, stating: “Hi there, I can confirm that this is not genuine and that it is a scam.

“Thank you for being vigilant and sending this to us.

“You can report this by forwarding the message to 88355.”

The bank has also issued assistance to Britons on how to protect themselves from the issue known as smishing.

Firstly, individuals are urged to never give their full online banking PIN, full password or card reader codes to anyone via text message.

Genuine text messages from the bank may contain links to websites, but will never link to a page which asks for any online banking or full card details.

Those who have already clicked on a link are advised to run a scan with antivirus software to check the phone for malicious software.

Finally, Britons are urged never to phone the number which is included within a text message of this kind.

This is because fraudsters can often use other tactics to try to trick people into parting with personal information. 

A number of people took to social media to share their experiences and urge others to be cautious. 

One said: “Just received a text about a new payee being set up on my mobile app. How do I know this is a scam?”

A second individual stated: “I do not bank with NatWest – people are using the bank to scam people into opening links.

“I suggest scammers watch themselves as I will be handing over the number to the police!”

A third person warned: “If it shows a mobile number at the top it’s definitely a scam. I recently had my calendar hacked.”

A fourth person shared their close brush with the scam, saying: “I had a text from ‘NatWest’ a while back.

“What alerted me to the fact it was a scam was that I don’t even bank with NatWest.”

While a fifth person contacted NatWest directly, warning: “Just had this text come through, I know it’s not you and have not clicked on the link.

“I thought you would like to be aware that this person seems to know what bank I’m with and that this scam is going around.”



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