WARNING - NatWest Fraud Team scam

I received an automated call today from what was supposed to be the "NatWest Fraud Team" with an urgent message for Rosalyn Watson and asking that I select one of the following options ....

As an ex-fraud investigator I didn't bother checking the options; I simply disconnected the call.

The call came from 0845 356 0020, and a subsequent conversation with the real NatWest Fraud Team has confirmed tht this is NOT one of their numbers.

Spookily, within 10 minutes of speaking to NatWest I received a second call, this time from somebody calling himself "Toby" and claiming to be an estate agent looking for Rosalyn Watson!

The number that Toby used was 0207 736 6110.

It could, of course, be pure coincidence, but I've never heard of this Rosalyn and in the nearly 12 months I've had this number I've never had any other calls from people looking for her.

If in doubt I suggest you ring your bank and speak to a real person.

As a rule I never speak to a company that phones me

They will normally ask me for my password etc so they can talk to me to tell me what the call is about. I, as anyone else should do, refuse. They then get all frustrated etc and try to reassure me that it really is the bank etc (strange how the banks etc always try to reassure you its them and not advise you to call them back on a look up able number.

I always call them back on a number I get from their website, never a number they give out.

Hi Cart,

Yep - that's good practice. NEVER give out passwords over the phone.

That damned number has rung me twice more today with the same automated message - which is getting a tad tedious !!

Anybody else been blessed in this way, or is it just my lucky day?

I got a couple of similar calls claiming to be from Barclays last week. They also mentioned the name of someone I'd never heard of and to the best of my knowledge has never lived at my address. I just ignored them.

Hey Andy
The last line on your post made me smile
"If in doubt I suggest you ring your bank and speak to a real person."
You have a bank with real people - that you CAN get through to!
Steve

The strange thing is: I received such an automated call 3 months or so back, wanting me first to enter my passcode blah blah blah and of course I did not press any buttons or anything. But later that day I did eventually call my CC company. It turned out it was a genuine call and there was a fraud attempt on my card, which we then sorted there and then, but in a phonecall I initiated not the bank.

Banks don't follow their own advice, no surprise there.

Steve: Yes, I can get through to real humans on certain numbers. but most of the time I have to listen through all the automated options and then say nothing. Eventually, with luck, the system defaults to passing the call to a person. It's not the most user-friendly way of doing business!

Michael: For the life of me I can't understand why a credit card company would expect customers to give away sensitive information on the basis of an unexpected automated call. It goes against all the principles of good security. The technical expression "Muppets" springs to mind !!