A new campaign is urging people in Gedling borough to “pause and think” before they respond to requests for personal and financial details.
The campaign has been launched as figures show one scam takes place every 15 seconds across the UK.
More than one million cases of financial fraud where victims lost money were detected in the first half of 2016, which was a 53% increase compared with a year earlier, according to Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK).
There were 1,007,094 such incidents between January and June – equating to one every 15 seconds – made up of payment card fraud, cheque fraud and online and telephone banking fraud.
FFA UK, along with major banks and financial services providers, has launched now launched a campaign called Take Five, which encourages people to pause and think before they respond to any financial requests or hand over any personal details.
This pausing could be by stopping a phone conversation or delaying a reply to an email or text.
The Take Five campaign will be highlighted by banks in branches across Gedling borough, on ATMs and on websites.
The drive focuses on financial frauds directly targeting customers, such as email deception – known as phishing – and phone and text-based scams, known as “vishing” and “smishing”.
It aims to help protect people from criminals duping them into moving money into bank accounts controlled by fraudsters.
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Katy Worobec, Director of Financial Fraud Action UK who created the campaign, said: “The industry is already taking action on fraud, last year our members stopped £7 in every £10 of fraud taking place.
“However, we know that criminals are getting increasingly sophisticated in their tactics and that’s why we are launching Take Five. We want everyone to take a moment to pause and think to help stop fraud.”
The campaign is asking everyone to help protect themselves from financial fraud by remembering some simple advice:
- Never disclose security details, such as your PIN or full password – it’s never okay to reveal these details.
- Don’t assume an email request or caller is genuine – people aren’t always who they say they are.
- Don’t be rushed – a genuine bank or organisation won’t mind waiting to give you time to stop and think.
- Listen to your instincts – if something feels wrong then it is usually right to pause and question it.
- Stay in control – have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for information.
