A new scam has come to light targeting customers of Lloyds Bank. If the scammers are successful, your bank account could be completely emptied.
The scam is conducted through fake text messages. These are made to resemble official communications that inform the customer of a new device being paired to their account along with a new payee. This is an example of ‘Smashing’ – a method used by scammers to gain access to consumer’s bank accounts.
We previously reported on Covid-19 Vaccination Scams and the varied approaches scammers are employing in attempts to trick consumers. These methods include email, SMS, and Telephone. The familiarity of language used in communications, as well as the use of the official branding by scammers can help to improve their apparent authenticity.
Some examples of these ‘smashing’ messages claiming to be from Lloyds Bank include:
“LLOYDS: A new device has successfully paired onto your account on (DATE). If this was not you, please visit: (LINK).”
“LLOYDS ALERTS: New payee (NAME UNKNOWN TO TARGET)was successfully added on (DATE).”
“If this was NOT you, please immediately visit: (LINK).”
It is important that you do not click on the link in these messages, otherwise, scammers may gain access to your account(s). A legitimate source will never ask for personal or banking details from customers. Lloyds Banking Group have already announced that these messages are a scam and should be deleted.
This will not be the last attempt at Smashing and customers should remain on guard for any fake messages. Always check to make sure that messages are consistent with what is known about the bank. Also check to make sure that grammar and spelling are correct as a legitimate messages would not contain mistakes.