Agenda item

Ryan Taylor, NatWest Community Banker will hold a discussion on how you can become more aware of scams and provide advice on how you can protect yourself.

Ryan Taylor, NatWest Community Banker was welcomed to the forum to talk about scams and fraud.

Ryan's roll is to reach out to communities and help more vulnerable people who of victims or potential victims of scams, this work is supported by Bath and North East Somerset trading standards team. It is thought that 1500 instances occur in Bath and North East Somerset over the period of the year, but many of these I'm not reported to the police.

Whenever NatWest speak with somebody about a scam they will always log and report each instance to the police. A scam is when somebody has been tricked into something that they did not want to do, it is believed that 50% of people that are aged over 65 have been scanned in some way. Because many people have being scammed out of what they perceive to be lower amounts of money of around £20-£30 they have and attitudes where they say is not worth reporting this.

It is more likely that older people who are on their own or less mobile will be victims of scams. Scams take place not only online but through telephone calls and face-to-face home callers; it is common that young women are used on the telephone as their voices will seem to be more trustworthy. It is commonplace that scams over the telephone involve people impersonating banks and the police.

When customers don't keep their personal details secure it is very difficult for banks to offer any kind of refund or protection even when people have been tricked into giving out their secure information.

A website exists which is called action fraud which allows people two self-reports incidents where fraud could of occurred but didn’t. www.actionfraud.police.uk

Doorstep scammers normally speculate and approach people offering services or deals that they have not asked for. It has been known that scammers have waited outside victims homes and even taken then to the bank to get money from them straightaway. When you're not sure you need to make relevant checks on who you are dealing with, if you are approached unexpectedly then you need to think carefully before agreeing any payments, if you really needs a service of any kind then you should be the one who is approaching companies for quotes.

When receiving cold calls if you do not require what is being offered or are unsure then feel free to just put the phone down. There are methods that are used to keep your telephone line open even if you think you have hung up, if you need to call somebody back it is recommended that you either use another phone (maybe a mobile phone)  or unplug you’re  landline and wait a while before making the call back.

There are many different types of scams that people have tried and commonly they will use methods such as saying that you are under a time limit, make you feel pressured or even present threatening repercussions. Some examples are, HMRC, paying with i-tunes cards, you have won a prize, we need your bank account details to release money that your owed. None of these should be taken on face value always talk through with somebody you can trust and don't be scared to say no.

There are scams which involve people contacting you and saying they are from BT, these types of incidents normally involve the scammer accessing your computer through a mirror website (a site that has been copied from the original) and your computer is then attacked by a virus/ ransomware. What is happening here is the scammer is getting to see what is on your screen and what information you input on your keyboard, this can give enough information for your bank account to be accessed and emptied.

Mobile phone banking uses a very secure portal system which customers should feel very secure using. When using mobile banking on a Wi-Fi network encryption is very secure and can be used on private and public (non-secure) networks.

Contactless payments where purchases of £30 or less can be made need the cardholder to be close to the reader, there are thought to be no offences where high density scanners have been used. There are limits on contactless payments and the bank offers customers protection.

Natwest are the only bank that is carrying out this work and have recruited 160 members of staff across the UK over the last 18 months. This work is really important and prevention helps the bank and its customers.

If anyone wishes to have any further presentations involving there local community groups please feel free to contact Ryan Taylor and he will make arrangements to come along.

Ryan Taylor
Community Banker
Phone: 03457888444
Mobile: 07824351409
Email: ryan.taylor@natwest.com
Website: www.natwest.com
Mobile Banking App: Mobile Banking
Correspondence Address: NatWest City of Bath, 24-25 Stall Street, Bath, BA1 1QF