Smishing attack uses bank brands to target local residents

Monday 12 March 2018

NatWest International is aware of a fraud attempt that's currently targeting Guernsey people via their mobile phones.

A text message, which appears to come from NatWest and looks genuine, asks the recipient to urgently call a fake Fraud Prevention Number about a recent purchase that's been made on their account.

The current message asks the recipient to call the number contained within the text if they think a recent PayPal transaction is not genuine. The fraudsters use names of companies like PayPal, Apple and Amazon, who they know are used frequently by lots of customers, to trick people into responding.

The fake text messages can appear within the same message thread as a genuine text message from NatWest International, which makes it difficult to spot. However, the bank’s advising anyone who’s received this message – or any other suspicious message – to take the following precautions:

• Check the number you’re being asked to call. Only ever call the bank on a known or published number (such as on the bank’s website, the telephone directory or on your bank statement). Never call back on a number contained within a text message.
• Never use your card reader when logging into your online banking account, or over the phone
• If you’ve responded to a message like this, you should contact the bank immediately using their published numbers.
• Recipients of fraudulent messages can help by sending a copy to the banks dedicated Smishing number: 07860 009 378

Steve Wakelin, Managing Director of Personal and Business Banking for NatWest International, said: “NatWest International will never ask you for your full security details, like a card reader code over the phone. These are should be kept secret.

"If you believe your account’s been compromised or you think you’ve given away your secret information, please get in touch with us soon as possible using only our published numbers. You can help by talking to your friends and family about this scam and if you use Facebook or Twitter, help us spread the word by liking and sharing our online security posts.”