New Text Scam

Beware Of This Text Scam That Could Cost You Thousands Of Dollars

There is a new cellphone text scam circulating that could drain your entire bank account with no chance of recovery.

Fraudsters will send text messages to your phone using your bank's phone number, requesting you call fraud prevention line to confirm your identity. They'll make you confirm your bank details, which will give them access to all your funds.

One woman had over $75,000 stolen from her accounts this week, but her bank is refusing to reimburse her because it's not their error.

"I received the text, but this wasn't unusual as I've had messages from them before," says Claire Pearson, who lost over $75,000 to the scam. "It said there had been suspicious activity on my account, asked "do you recognize this transaction?", if not call this number. I clicked the number and it called through, and the call went on for 30 minutes. The man I spoke to was lovely, we built up a rapport and he said they would send me a new card in three days."

Pearson's bank, Santander, refused to reimburse her.

"When there has been no Santander error and customers have divulged personal, security information, we cannot accept any responsibility for the losses on the account."

Consumer expert Henry Wallop says, "Alarm bells shouldn't necessarily have rung when the text come through - but you should always call the number on the back of your bank card, not a number in a text message. The number on the message was a fake number. The second alarm bell should have rung when they asked for your password - an official bank call will never ask for your password or security codes in full."