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"For more information press 1"

“This is your bank calling.”  Those were the
opening words of an automated call which one of our team received
recently. The recorded voice went on to explain that two items had
been debited from our colleague’s account and that as the debits
were from a company which had not been used before, the bank was
concerned that the items might be fraudulent. Our colleague was
therefore invited to press 1 for more information.

Would you have ‘pressed 1?’  The threat of potentially fraudulent items
is concerning so it wouldn’t be surprising if your answer is ‘yes.’
But just look at those opening words; “this is your bank.” The
automated voice didn’t say which bank and that is a clear sign that
the call was not genuine. In this instance the call also came through
on a line which was not registered with our colleague’s bank;
another strong clue that the call was not genuine.

What would have happened if our colleague had pressed 1? Most likely they
would have been connected to a person who would have tried to extract
banking information or passwords from them. But as they recognised
the call as potentially fraudulent, they hung up and reported it to
Action Fraud. Remember your bank or other financial institution may
well get in touch about potentially suspicious entries on your
account but they will clearly identify themselves and they won’t
ask you to provide them with any details. If in doubt, hang up and
use another phone to call your bank using independently verified
phone numbers.

If you are looking for advice on investments, or if your situation has
changed and you may therefore need to review your existing pensions
or investments, contact Beckworth by using one of the links on our
website.