Bank and credit card scams were the most commonly reported type of phone scam in the world last year, according to Hiya’s data. They ranked #1 in the top 10 phone scams of 2023, beating out other long-running scams such as tax scams, Amazon scams and insurance scams.
Bank scams are imposter scams: a fraudster calls pretending to be a representative from your bank, usually with an urgent message, such as there’s been fraudulent activity on your bank debit or credit card.
.jpg?width=1300&height=888&name=Top%2010%20phone%20scams%20of%202023@2x%20(created%20by%20Timmy%20Dec%202023).jpg)
Bank & credit card scams were the most common type of phone scam worldwide last year.
Example of a bank scam call
Here’s an example of a bank scam, as captured in the Hiya honeypot, a collection of hundreds of thousands of Hiya-owned numbers used for identifying and stopping spam calls:
“Hi, this is a call regarding your bank card debit notification. We have found two suspicious charges early this morning from your bank card. One is $399 to ebay and the other is $1399 to purchase an online international gift card. If you have not made these charges, please press 1 to speak with a bank officer. Your safety is our priority. Thank you.”
Pressing 1 to refute the charge will inevitably transfer the recipient to a live scammer who will ask the victim to confirm details such as a credit or debit card number, bank account number, password, etc.
Notice in the robocall above that the caller doesn’t mention the name of the bank. That allows the scammer to cast a wide net, hoping the victim will react quickly to the message and want to talk to a representative, who will continue the scam. Other robocalls mention the name of a specific bank. Bank names vary by country, but usually the scammers impersonate large, nationwide banks. This makes the call more believable when it reaches someone who is actually a customer of that bank.
Bank scams around the world
In addition to Honeypot recordings, Hiya also receives reports from Hiya users around the world. Consumers using Hiya Protect via their carrier, device manufacturer or the Hiya mobile app have the ability to report the call as spam and they can also leave a comment. Below are comments about bank scams from users around the world:
From the US – “Claims to be from Chase bank. Calls to tell you you have a credit card application open and they’re calling to confirm it’s okay to cancel it. Then they start asking for info.”
From Canada – “AI voice pretending to be Bank of Montreal. Knew my name. Asking personal questions pretending to be an anti-fraud service.”
From the UK – “Claiming to be from my bank security, as charges had been made to my cards. Tried to get me to give my details but I hung up.”
From Spain – “They pretend to be CaixaBank, and say that there is an alleged incident with your account and end up asking you for personal information to scam you.”
From France – “They stole all the money from my daughter's savings account by pretending to be her bank!”
From Germany – “My bank account was supposedly blocked and I should provide my details to reactivate it.”
From Brazil – “They say they are from Banco de Brasil and that a charge was authorized and to cancel it I need to speak to an agent.”
TV star a victim of an elaborate bank scam
Bank scams can arrive over the phone, or through email, text and social media. Sometimes multiple communication mediums are used. For example, American TV personality Andy Cohen told the Today Show of an elaborate bank scam that included email, phone and text messaging.
Cohen said he received an email, supposedly from his bank, saying they suspected an unauthorized purchase. He had lost his debit card the day before so he considered the email legitimate. From the email, he clicked a link to log into his bank account — inadvertently providing the scammers with his login name and password.
Cohen then received a call from someone posing as a bank representative, asking if he had made certain purchases. Since the scammers could see his bank transactions, they rattled off several real purchases, which made Cohen even more confident he was dealing with his bank. The bank imposters then sent him three codes via text message and he read the codes back to the scammers. By doing that, he authorized three large wire transfers out of his bank to the scammers. They even had Cohen type numbers into the keypad on his phone, which forwarded his phone calls so the scammers could intercept any calls that might come in from security representatives at his actual bank. In the end, Cohen said he lost “a sizable amount of money.”
How to fight back against bank scams
Although bank scams can be convincing, there are ways to fight back.
Mobile network carriers can add Hiya Protect, a complete call protection solution that enables carriers to protect their subscribers by blocking fraud calls and labeling spam calls. Using Adaptive AI technology, Hiya Protect analyzes past and present call patterns and responds to new threats as they emerge.
Enterprises can help their customers feel safe answering the phone by adding Hiya Connect, which enables businesses to display their company name, logo and reason for the call on the recipient’s mobile phone. With Hiya Connect, enterprises can improve customer engagement while protecting their customers from deceitful interactions.
Individuals should first check with their mobile carrier to see if it offers call protection at the network level. If it doesn’t offer any built-in protections, individuals can download the Hiya app, which is available on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.
