NatWest International is aware of a fraud attempt that’s currently targeting Isle of Man residents via their mobile phones.

A text message, which appears to come from the bank and looks genuine, asks the recipient to urgently call a fake Fraud Prevention Number about a recent purchase that’s been made on their account. Eventually, the caller is put through to a fake call centre and asked to provide personal account details allowing the fraudsters to commit a crime against the unwitting victim.

The fake text messages can appear within the same message thread as a genuine text message from NatWest International, which makes it difficult to spot. However, the bank’s advising anyone who’s received this message – or any other suspicious message – to take the following precautions:

• Check the number you’re being asked to call. Only ever call the bank on a known or published number (such as on our website, the telephone directory or on your bank statement). Never call back on a number contained within a text message.
• Never use your card reader when logging into your online banking account, or over the phone
• If you’ve responded to a message like this, you should contact the bank immediately using our published numbers
• Recipients of fraudulent messages can help by sending a copy to phishing@natwest.com

Steve Wakelin, Managing Director of Personal and Business Banking for NatWest International, commented: “NatWest International will never ask you for a card reader code over the phone. These are used for our customers’ security and should be kept secret. If you believe your account’s been compromised or you think you’ve given away your secret information, please get in touch with us as soon as possible using only our published numbers.”