‘I’ve £80k in the account, here’s my pin’: turning the tables on the scammers
A Guardian Money reader describes spending three hours misleading bank-impersonation scammers after receiving a bogus automated call about an Argos payment. By posing as a confused older customer with £80,000 in his account, he kept the callers engaged and exposed how persistently they tried to obtain card details and arrange collection of a bank card.
The caller, who used the name “Adam”, asked security-style questions, requested a PIN and pressed for debit and credit card numbers. He correctly identified the first six digits of the reader’s HSBC debit card before rejecting the invented remaining digits, then proposed sending a courier immediately because banks were supposedly closed on Sunday. The episode highlights both the sophistication of such scams and the risks of sharing any financial information with unsolicited callers.
- A reader kept bank scammers talking for three hours.
- Fraudsters sought PINs, card details and physical card collection.
- Unsolicited banking calls should be treated with extreme caution.
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Bank impersonation scams begin with an unsolicited call or message claiming there is a problem with an account or payment. The caller may pretend to be from a bank and ask questions that sound like security checks, while trying to obtain card details, a PIN or access to a bank card.
The callers may use personal or card information to make the request seem genuine, and may arrange to collect a card in person. Banks do not need customers to disclose their PIN to verify their identity. These scams matter because sharing information or a card can let criminals steal money or use an account.