New telephone service to check if a bank communication is a scam - 2024 update*
*Up to date list of banks in comment below.
Stop Scams UK, supported by the Financial Conduct Authority and Ofcom, have started a telephone service, where you can check whether the call, text or email is genuine. Most of the UK's leading banks have signed up, apart from HSBC, and it works on all major mobile networks To check on a possible scam, phone 159 and choose your bank by pressing the appropriate number on the keypad, you will then be put through to someone in customer services. If the scam originates as a phone call, be sure to put the phone down and check that the caller has disconnected. Scammers even have a recorded dialing tone and the same response as dialing 159. You can check immediately that they have gone, by phoning your home number via a mobile phone, or phone 159 on your mobile.
The service will be run as a trial for 12 months.
Stop Scams UK, supported by the Financial Conduct Authority and Ofcom, have started a telephone service, where you can check whether the call, text or email is genuine. Most of the UK's leading banks have signed up, apart from HSBC, and it works on all major mobile networks To check on a possible scam, phone 159 and choose your bank by pressing the appropriate number on the keypad, you will then be put through to someone in customer services. If the scam originates as a phone call, be sure to put the phone down and check that the caller has disconnected. Scammers even have a recorded dialing tone and the same response as dialing 159. You can check immediately that they have gone, by phoning your home number via a mobile phone, or phone 159 on your mobile.
The service will be run as a trial for 12 months.
