The amount of money lost to phone scams has tripled to £23.9m in the last year, according to new figures.Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK), which represents banks, building societies and card companies, has launched a national campaign to warn about the telltale signs of a phone scam.
It carried out a survey which found that 58% of people had received suspect calls about their banking details – up 17% on last year.
The campaign tells consumers not to give out their PIN over the phone.
Cold calling scams typically involve fraudsters deceiving victims into thinking they are speaking to a police officer, bank staff, or a trusted representative of an organisation – a practice known as phishing.
They will then try to get them to divulge passwords, transfer funds or hand over cash to a courier.
Detective Chief Inspector Perry Stokes said: “Always be on your guard if you receive a cold call and are asked for personal or financial information, or to hand over your card or cash to someone.
“The bank or the police will never tell you to take such actions, so if you’re asked it can only be a criminal attack.”
FFA UK also said fraudsters could ask consumers to hang up and phone back in an attempt to win their confidence.
