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* Fake refunds, donations catching customers out
* Some banks operating 24/7 anti-fraud teams
* Customers more vulnerable than ever, bankers say
(Adds information on U.S. bank scams)
By Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise
LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - UK banks are stepping up fraud
prevention measures to protect customers from scammers eager to
exploit the coronavirus pandemic with a whole range of new
tricks, including fake sales of medical supplies and bogus
government relief schemes.
With British households effectively on lockdown, some banks
said customers had already been caught out by fraudsters posing
as banks, government and even health service providers to
persuade victims to hand over passwords or other sensitive data.
Fraud is also on the rise in the United States, where
regulators have warned about investment and data theft scams.
In the UK, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking
Group and Royal Bank of Scotland have launched
social media campaigns to flag ploys. Metro Bank said
its fraud team was still operating a 24-hour, seven-day service
to help affected customers.
The banks said scammers were using a range of methods to
prey on people. Common "phishing" emails, authorised bank
transfers and schemes involving fake buying or selling of goods
or services are on the rise, alongside more sophisticated
"payment diversion" frauds, designed to coax businesses to part
with large sums of cash.
One such example flagged to Reuters called on business
owners to make a 25,000 pounds ($29,370) payment to a fake
government support initiative called "The Central Employers
Scheme" set up to cover sick pay during the outbreak.
A UK banking source said another victim made a significant
payment to a "COVOID Bond", also fraudulently linked to the UK
government.
The banks said such typographical errors were often made
deliberately by scammers to lend authenticity to the request,
particularly if the sender was posing as a chief executive or
colleague demanding the recipient took quick action.
The UK banking source said another customer was persuaded
via email to send a cross-border payment to a scam account after
fraudsters said the legitimate account had been "frozen by the
Greek Government."
"This virus won't stop bad actors and fraudsters, if
anything, it will encourage them. I am much more nervous about
this today than ever," Richard Meddings, chairman of retail bank
TSB, told Reuters.
"People will be at home, receiving phone calls and texts
from people who claim to be their banks, asking them about
cancelled events and travel plans and offering refunds. Fraud
can only go up under these kinds of circumstances," he said.
Figures published earlier this month by trade body UK
Finance showed around a quarter of the 456 million pounds
($535.2 million) of authorised bank transfer fraud was returned
to victims across the industry last year. TSB, the only UK bank
to offer a Fraud Refund Guarantee, has returned 99% of losses to
its customers since April.
In the United States, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, the regulator which insures customer deposits, last
week said fraudsters were exploiting popular anxiety and
confusion to steal personal data, such as birthdays and Social
Security numbers, through texts and social media.
Many U.S. banks have cut branch hours or are pushing
customers to use online banking to mitigate the spread of the
coronavirus. That has created opportunities for scammers who,
impersonating FDIC officials, have urged depositors to hand over
their data, saying their current lender is about to collapse.
"During these unprecedented times consumers may receive
false information regarding the security of their deposits or
their ability to access cash," the FDIC said.
BANK WARNINGS
British banks said they are working hard to get the word
out.
"We have increased our warning messages across all of our
communication channels and as the situation evolves we continue
to review and update these warnings," an RBS spokeswoman said.
"We also ask that customers spread the word amongst family
and friends, especially the more vulnerable in our society."
A tweet from Lloyds warning customers of the dangers had
over 1 million views by Sunday evening, in a sign of the level
of public concern.
Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting
centre, said the majority of reports it had received in recent
days related to online shopping scams where people have ordered
protective face masks and hand sanitiser which have never
arrived.
"The advice is simple, think very carefully before you hand
over your money, and don't give out your personal details unless
you are sure who you are dealing with," said Graeme Biggar,
director general of the National Economic Crime Centre said.
In the United States, lenders including United Bank,
Citizens Bank, and Fifth Third Bank are alerting customers to
fraud-related schemes and encouraging them to protect their
personal information. Northwest Bank is also providing customers
with information and tools to help spot tactics aimed at
obtaining customer financial information.
Some European banks are also concerned their workforces
could fall foul of fraudsters.
A staff memo sent by Italy's UniCredit earlier
this week warned of "ongoing campaigns" against the bank's IT
security and urged staff to be extra vigilant of incoming email,
SMS and WhatsApp messages that referred to coronavirus.
"Customer data safety and security is UniCredit's top
priority. As always, we continue to take and apply all the
necessary measures to protect our customers and systems," the
bank said.
($1 = 0.8512 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan and Clara Denina
in London and Katanga Johnson in DC; editing by Jane Merriman
and Jonathan Oatis)
