The phone call that could have cost us dearly

When someone phones claiming that money is disappearing from your account, the natural reaction is to panic and try to fix the problem immediately.

This week, my husband nearly became another victim of a banking scam. The woman on the other end of the telephone sounded convincing enough. She told him she could see that a large amount of money was being taken from his bank account for online purchases and wanted to know whether he had authorised the transactions.

Fortunately, his answer was simple. “No. I don't use my bank card. My wife has it.” He told her he would phone me and find out what was going on and that is probably the one thing that stopped the conversation from going any further. He phoned me immediately. I opened my banking app and checked our accounts. There was absolutely no indication of any online purchases.

In fact, the whole story made little sense. My husband does not earn a salary, hardly has any money in that particular account and very rarely uses his card. We simply keep the account because he needs a bank account in his own name and it is convenient to have one, but by then, the damage had already been done in one respect.

He was frantic, and that, I suspect, is exactly what the scammer was counting on.

When somebody phones you and calmly tells you that thousands of rands are disappearing from your bank account, your first reaction is not necessarily to think rationally. Your first reaction is panic. You immediately want to know what has happened and stop any further transactions. You want somebody to help you and that is precisely where the trap can close.

I keep wondering what the woman's next question would have been if my husband had not said he would check with me. “Can I confirm your account number? What is your card number? “What is your PIN? I'm going to send you an OTP. Please read it back to me.” Or perhaps she would have offered to “help” him secure the account and directed him to a website or asked him to install something on his computer or cellphone. Luckily we will never know.

What we do know is that this is a recognised form of banking fraud. Banks warn that criminals use telephone calls about supposedly fraudulent transactions to gain credibility and then try to obtain confidential banking information or get victims to give them access to their devices. Banks specifically warn customers never to disclose passwords, PINs or OTPs over the phone.

I cannot help wondering how many older people are caught this way, because if you are sitting at home and someone who sounds professional tells you that your life savings are disappearing from your account, it is frightening. Particularly if you are not comfortable with technology or banking apps and especially if you don't have somebody nearby whom you can immediately phone.

That is what makes these scams so nasty. They don't necessarily begin with greed, but with fear, and fear makes people act before they think.

I was lucky enough to keep my head this morning. I told my husband not to call the woman back under any circumstances. I checked the account myself through the banking app and reported the incident to our bank's fraud department, giving them the cellphone number from which she called. Whether anything comes of that report remains to be seen.

But it is worth reporting, because somewhere, somebody else may receive exactly the same call tomorrow. Perhaps that person will not be as fortunate as my husband was to have someone immediately say: “Wait. Don't do anything. Let's check first.”

We have reached a strange point in life where we have more security systems protecting our money than ever before, yet there always seems to be somebody trying to find a way around them. Sometimes I think perhaps I should forget banking altogether and get myself a good old-fashioned ‘trommel’ to keep the little money we have under the bed!

There are a few simple rules worth remembering. If somebody phones you about suspicious activity on your bank account, don't panic, but hang up. Even if the person sounds completely genuine. Never give your PIN, password, card security details or OTP to somebody who has called you. Your bank will not need you to reveal these confidential details to “secure” your account. Don't phone the number the caller gives you. Use the official number on your bank card, your bank's official website or your banking app.

Check your account yourself. Log into your banking app independently rather than following instructions from the caller. Never install software because somebody on the telephone tells you to. Remote-access scams can give criminals control of your computer or device. Don't read an OTP aloud. An OTP is there to authorise a transaction or action. If somebody is asking you to tell them what the OTP says, stop!

Don't be embarrassed to ask somebody you trust for help. In fact, I would encourage elderly parents and grandparents to have a simple rule with their families: if somebody phones about their bank account and they become worried, they should put the phone down and call a son, daughter, friend or other trusted person before doing anything. A legitimate problem with your bank account can wait long enough for you to verify it. If somebody is putting you under pressure to act right now, that pressure itself should be a warning sign.

My husband's call lasted only a few minutes. No money was lost and no details were given. But it was a good reminder that none of us should ever assume that because we are careful, we cannot be caught. These criminals only need one moment of panic, so don't give them that moment. Put the phone down and take a breath. Check for yourself and call your bank using a number you know is genuine.

If this situation means keeping a little extra cash in a ‘trommel’ under the bed for peace of mind... Well, perhaps just don't tell the scammers where you keep it.

𝓛𝔂𝓷𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮.