Barclays to head off scammers with pre-payment pop-up questions
Barclays Bank has introduced a new anti-scam service in the UK that will send three fraud-prevention pop-up questions to owners of accounts involved in seemingly suspicious online fund transfers. The questions are designed to prompt customers to stop and think before fulfilling requests for money as the bank seeks to stop people being duped into making cash transfers. The bank is also hosting Embarrassing Fraud Clinics across the UK to give customers a digital health check and personal advice on cyber protection.

Barclays Bank customers making 'out-of-character' online funds transfers will first have to answer a battery of questions designed to make them reflect on whether they may be a victim of a scam

The pro-active fraud reduction effort comes as more and more UK consumers are being duped into sending money to fraudsters posing as legitimate business contacts.



In an initiative designed to stop fraudsters in their tracks, Barclays Bank customers will now be asked three fraud prevention questions immediately after making an unusually large or suspicious online payment. If the customer has any doubts about the payment after answering the questions, they are asked to call Barclays immediately using the number on the back of their card.



The bank says the questions are designed for customers to have a ‘stop and think’ moment to consider whether the request they have had to make a payment is genuine.



To help spread awareness of common criminal tactics, Barclays is also staging a series of 'Embarrassing Fraud Clinics' across the country where consumers can have a ‘digital health check’ alongside personalised advice on protecting against potential cyber threats.



Ashok Vaswani, CEO Barclays UK says: “The Embarrassing Fraud Clinic and our new online fraud intervention service makes up the next phase of our £10 million commitment to helping people stay safe in cyber space, launched earlier this year. With the average British person being targeted 12 time over the last 12 months never has it been more vital for us to lead the fightback against the fraudsters and increase the public’s resilience to cyber-attacks."