City news: NatWest, Co-op
GETTY NatWest bank works to raise awareness of common scams
The bank said its records show nearly 7,000 customers have become the victims of scams since the start of 2016. Among these cases, “goods not received” cases – when someone pays for items or services that never turn up – were the most common. These account for 2,073 cases seen by NatWest – or about three in 10 scams carried out against NatWest customers.
Such scams can happen on online auctions and marketplaces, NatWest said. It said customers can protect themselves by reading the website’s dispute resolution policy before buying.
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They should use official payment services and not pay via direct bank transfer off-site.
We have hundreds of people working 24/7 to stop fraud Les Matheson
Businesses can also be victims of scams. NatWest said “invoice fraud” can cause big losses. This happens when a business receives an invoice that appears to be from a trusted trading partner but is actually fake.
GETTY The bank said nearly 7,000 customers have become victims of scams since the start of 2016
The fraudster typically says that payment arrangements have changed and that the customer should pay the outstanding balance to the new account, which is operated by the fraudster. Each business targeted loses, on average, £30,000 to this type of fraud. Les Matheson, NatWest chief executive of personal and business banking, said: “We have hundreds of people working 24/7 to stop fraud, but it’s very important that, as individuals and businesses, we know how to protect ourselves.” -----------------------------------------------------
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