Fraud and Scams

Fraud and Scams

As a client of Montgomery Associates, please remember you can contact us at any time for guidance and advice if you fear you might be the victim of a scam attempt or any fraudulent activity. If you are at immediate risk, such as your bank account being accessed by a fraudster, you should contact your bank immediately using the phone number on your bank card, or if your bank card has been lost or stolen you should report it immediately to your bank.

Fraudsters and scammers

With the rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) - and ChatGPT in particular - the risk of falling victim to sophisticated fraud or a targeted scam is now greater than ever. In 2022, of all the scams or ‘phishing’ messages reported, one third were posing as a bank or financial institution, while more than half were pretending to be a delivery company.

Ways to protect yourself

If you are ever in doubt, stop and think twice about the action you are being asked to take, whether paying an invoice via online banking, responding to an unusual text message, taking an unexpected call from your internet service provider or an “IT Support” company. Feeling under pressure to make a payment or being asked to do something unusual with your money could be a prompt to PAUSE to check with someone you trust such as a friend or family member before proceeding. As a client of Montgomery Associates you can call us for help if you need.

If you receive a call from an area code you don’t recognise, or a ‘hidden caller ID’ or simply from a new phone number, then be vigilant. It is quite possible the call is genuine, but proceed with caution.

Often when using internet banking, you are sent a one-time passcode or password. Remember never to read this out to anyone over the phone, even if it comes from the person calling from your bank - a genuine provider will never ask for this.

If you are at all unsure, tell the caller you need to call them back as you are busy and retry using the number on the company’s website or, if calling a bank, use the number on the back of your bank card. Make sure you end the call yourself (do not rely on the caller hanging up) and if possible use a different phone to start the next call, or make a call to a different person first before re-trying.

These banks have dedicated ‘scam help’ sections of their websites:

Examples of attempted scams

These are just some examples of real-world scam cases that have been attempted on us and our clients in 2022-23.

  • Text message from ‘your bank’ asking to click a link.

  • Email from ‘a friend’ asking for financial help while stuck abroad.

  • WhatsApp message from ‘your daughter’ asking to transfer money to their new bank with account details provided.

  • Email from ‘a colleague’ asking to approve an urgent payment.

  • Phone call from ‘BT’ warning of your internet service being cut off. In this instance, the scammer attempted to take control of the victim’s computer screen by sounding helpful and offering to help guide them to a website where the scammer asked them to enter a code so they could take control of their computer remotely to ‘fix the problem’. The scammer was not successful.

As a client of Montgomery Associates, your investment account receives an extra layer of protection so you can only withdraw money from your investment account to a known pre-verified bank account in your own name.

When taking instructions from you we will ask you to provide these in writing and we may call you as well.

Please contact us if you would like more information.

Take Five

“Take Five” is a national UK campaign led by UK Finance offering straight-forward, impartial advice that helps prevent email, phone-based and online fraud - particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations.

https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

[Last updated September 2023]

Sources:
Montgomery Associates
Office for National Statistics (https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/phishingattackswhoismostatrisk/2022-09-26)
Take Five to Stop Fraud (https://www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/)