Yacht Publication scams

Hi,

This is a good example of why everyone needs to be very aware of the ease at which scammers can relieve them of their hard earned cash.

Even genuine reputable businesses can sometimes make it seem like they are bogus operations if their approach is not well planned.

Just yesterday I got a phone call from a number where the caller ID was not displayed. The voice on the end told me he was calling from my bank and mentioned a branch in a different country to where I bank, there were strange transactions on my account that he wanted to query and would have to ask me some "security" questions. This immediately raised my suspicions and I refused to answer his questions . I hung up and called my bank using the usual number from the fixed phone on my desk and asked if there had been anyone from there trying to contact me.

The answer after some checking was yes, they wanted to query a payment I had setup to go out yesterday. When asked why I was called by someone claiming to represent the bank but not in the country where I bank I was told "Oh, That's how we do it nowadays". It seems calls can come from anywhere in the organization where an employee has that duty that day.

I don't do business with strangers over the phone. When you ask them to send you something in the mail about what they're selling, that's usually the end of it.

K1W1, you need to straighten out your bank. The banks I deal with say they will never call and ask for security info. Instead they will give you their extention and ask you to call back their main line and go to their extension. Everybody should know NEVER GIVE SECURITY INFO TO ANYONE WHO CALLS YOU.

You have to be careful of that method also.

It's easy enough for a spammer to give you the "main number" that rings into a phone on his desk that is answered by a female receptionist. When you ask for that extension she simply transfers you to her fellow spammer's phone which could be on the same desk. Or she could simply put you on hold and he then pics up the call on that same phone.

The only way to be certain about the number you call is to get it from directory assistance or your local branch.

Hi,

This possible scenario is one of the reasons I dialled the number I have used for many years to access my bank and accounts.

Hi,

I was just talking to my other half about this and I am still p****d about the whole thing.

About 2 weeks ago I arranged to make a payment on a certain date to settle an account. I set it up online as I normally do and thought that would be the last of it.

When I phoned the bank and was satisfied I was talking to the real thing I was asked everything about the payment I was wanting to make down to the recipient name, IBAN No, and currency it was to be paid in. I was logged in looking at my account at the time I was talking to the lady and could see that all details were right there on the screen- their server.

If I hadn't been able to get online and had been at sea or travelling elsewhere with no secure access I would not have been able to repeat all the info asked for ( I was reading it off their server)and the account would not have been settled, I would have incurred penalties through no fault of my own because of the banks strange way of checking the authenticity of their customers transactions.

Maybe this should be moved to a "**** the Banks" Thread. I have plenty more duff experiences with some of them.