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Isle Of Wight Resident 'Fortunate' To Avoid Bank Scam

Scam Warning

An Islander has been 'fortunate' enough to not lose any money and avoid being scammed after receiving a text that looked trustworthy.

Trading Standards says the Islander received a message purporting to be from his bank which said a new payee request has been created from an ‘unrecognised device’ - to cancel it - click on a link.

Immediately thinking it was genuine he clicked on the link - which took him to a page that looked identical to the bank’s own login page. He then followed the instructions to block the payee request.

A message then advised that a member of the fraud team would call him and help him log into his account in a different way.

He then received calls from an 0345 number but didn’t answer. When he googled the number - it came up as a scam number.

Fortunately, he hung up in time to contact his bank who later confirmed that it was a scam.

In response to the Islander’s experience, Trading Standards said:

‘Luckily no money was lost this time however it shows how believable scams can be. Remember never click on links in texts and emails and if you are unsure contact your bank or whichever organisation is involved and they will confirm whether it’s a scam.’

‘By talking about scams and raising awareness we can prevent more Island residents from becoming victims.’

You can report a scam by emailing trading.standards@iow.gov.uk or call (01983) 823371.

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