Fraud Alert Text Claiming to Be Your Bank — UK Scam Warning
A text message appearing to be from your bank warns about a suspicious payment and asks you to call a number or tap a link to secure your account. UK banks may send genuine fraud alerts, but they will never include links or ask for your full PIN or password by text. This is how criminals drain accounts.
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How This Scam Works
Critical Risk — UK Banking Smishing on the Rise
UK banks may send legitimate fraud alerts by text, but they will never include a link or ask for your full PIN, password, or one-time passcode via SMS.
Note: This scam typically arrives via text message, not email. If you received a suspicious email, forward it to check@scam.support for a free risk assessment. For text scams, report to Action Fraud — see all reporting agencies.
A text message appears to come from your bank warning about a suspicious payment. It asks you to call a number or tap a link to secure your account. In some cases, the text even appears in the same thread as genuine bank messages because scammers spoof the sender ID.
According to UK Finance, authorized push payment (APP) fraud losses in the UK totalled 459.7 million pounds in 2023. Many cases begin with a fake text message that leads the victim to contact a fraudulent call centre.
Red Flags
- Text includes a link — UK banks do not send links in fraud alerts
- Appears in the same thread as real bank messages (sender ID spoofing)
- Asks for your full PIN, password, or one-time passcode
- Creates urgency about a payment you do not recognize
- Asks you to call a number different from the one on your card
What You Should Do
What To Do
- Do not tap any links in the text
- Do not call any number provided in the text
- Call your bank using the number on the back of your card
- Check your account through your banking app directly
- Forward the scam text to 7726
Sources
- UK Finance — Annual Fraud Report 2024 (APP fraud losses: £459.7 million in 2023)
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) — Phishing: spot and report scam emails, texts, websites and calls