Four in five caught out by bank scams

Research by TSB shows that four in five people are tricked by scam bank messages.

The study saw 2,000 people presented with texts and emails from companies such as banks and mobile phone operators, half of which were fake. Only 18% of people could correctly identify all of the messages which were scams, with this falling to 9% among those in the 18-24 age bracket.

Those who could not spot the scams failed to identify red flags including spelling mistakes, links to unofficial websites and correspondence asking for personal details. It was found that 37% of people would respond to at least one of the fake messages.

The research says that millions of people could be vulnerable to a fraud attack by failing to recognise common warning signs in third party communications.

During the pandemic TSB says it has seen a significant spike in smishing attacks, although TSB found that losses and cases did not rise at an equivalent rate.

The research also found that those aged between 18-24 were most at risk of falling victim to fraud as they identified considerably fewer fraudulent messages than older generations, with just nine percent achieving a full score. Two fifths (41%) also stated that they would respond to at least one fraudulent message claiming to be from their bank, while a third (35%) would respond to a message imitating a provider – the highest of all age groups.

TSB previously found that almost one in three under 25s (29%) say protection against fraud is a key factor when choosing their bank.

TSB found that concerns over fraud remain high – with a fifth (19%) saying they are concerned that a family member could be defrauded during the coronavirus pandemic. And this figure rises to 43 percent with concerns over an elderly friend or relative.

Ashley Hart, Head of Fraud at TSB, said “Unfortunately, fraudsters are becoming increasingly clever in using technology such as text messages to impersonate banks and other companies, all to trick people out of their hard-earned money.

“Our findings show how convincing these messages can appear, and highlight a worrying proportion of people who could be caught out. The emotional and financial impact of fraud can be devastating – which is why we reimburse all our customers should they ever fall victim and invest in partnerships with police forces to hunt down the criminals behind these attacks.”

Age group	Number who were able to correctly identify all fraudulent messages (%)	Number who would respond to at least one message pretending to be from their bank (%)	Number who would respond to at least one message pretending to be from a provider (%)
18-34	9%	41%	35%
35-54	17%	39%	25%
55+	26%	32%	25%