Online banking frozen,bank want phone 'cleaning'.
Discussion
We had our life savings taken from my bank account last week.
Although the accounts are separate, one savings account is in both names so both our online accounts have been frozen.
Cards work OK, just seems to be the online stuff.
The bank will not put the accounts back online until I have had my phone 'cleaned'?
I have asked various people about this and nobody has any idea what the bank means by having the phone cleaned.
Anybody shed any light on what it means.
Good news is the money has been refunded already,which I thought was great service.
Although the accounts are separate, one savings account is in both names so both our online accounts have been frozen.
Cards work OK, just seems to be the online stuff.
The bank will not put the accounts back online until I have had my phone 'cleaned'?
I have asked various people about this and nobody has any idea what the bank means by having the phone cleaned.
Anybody shed any light on what it means.
Good news is the money has been refunded already,which I thought was great service.
iOS or Android?
For Android it's normally known as a "factory reset" - this wipes all the data and accounts on your phone and resets it to the state as if you'd just bought it from a shop and taken it out of the box. But when you sign in with your Google account again you'll probably get the option to restore all your apps etc.
There can be undesirable apps even on official app stores so I expect this is what the bank is trying to get you to remove by "cleaning" the phone.
How did the scam happen? Is it possible there's a keylogger / screen recorder or similar on any of the devices you use to access online banking? If any sensitive information has got into the wrong hands then it would be wise to change passwords/access codes etc for online banking and use a password manager (e.g. Bitwarden) with a strong master password to store them.
For Android it's normally known as a "factory reset" - this wipes all the data and accounts on your phone and resets it to the state as if you'd just bought it from a shop and taken it out of the box. But when you sign in with your Google account again you'll probably get the option to restore all your apps etc.
There can be undesirable apps even on official app stores so I expect this is what the bank is trying to get you to remove by "cleaning" the phone.
How did the scam happen? Is it possible there's a keylogger / screen recorder or similar on any of the devices you use to access online banking? If any sensitive information has got into the wrong hands then it would be wise to change passwords/access codes etc for online banking and use a password manager (e.g. Bitwarden) with a strong master password to store them.
It happened because of me letting my guard down and saying too much and answering too many questions instead of just hanging up.
I felt such a fool and am eternally grateful to the bank for the refund.
I have had the same number for many years and I do get a lot of rubbish calls so it might be time for a new number and reset of it all.
I felt such a fool and am eternally grateful to the bank for the refund.
I have had the same number for many years and I do get a lot of rubbish calls so it might be time for a new number and reset of it all.
Edited by Ifinishposts on Thursday 4th January 20:06
Your local police force will have a Cyber Crime Unit and a 'Protect' officer - effectively a cyber security advisor. They will be able to provide advice on securing your devices and online accounts. If you don't get much luck, you can find quite a few resources online, but of course they won't be tailored to your circumstances.
This is the National Cyber Security Centre's guide for devices, but it's tailored more to business than individuals.
This is the Cyber Aware site, which is designed for individuals, but may not go in to the depth you need.
Are you able to provide some more info on what happened, particularly what phone you have and how it was compromised? I'm happy for you to DM me if you'd rather not publish the details here.
This is the National Cyber Security Centre's guide for devices, but it's tailored more to business than individuals.
This is the Cyber Aware site, which is designed for individuals, but may not go in to the depth you need.
Are you able to provide some more info on what happened, particularly what phone you have and how it was compromised? I'm happy for you to DM me if you'd rather not publish the details here.
I'm a bit confused here.
Do you know how they got into the account?
You suggested some sort of phone call and you were caught out.
Does your bank account actually use any kind of app on your phone or did you basically get scammed into telling them your login details.
If it was "just" a phone call I would't be too concerned about the phone itself having been compromised - unfortunately you were as a human.
Do you know how they got into the account?
You suggested some sort of phone call and you were caught out.
Does your bank account actually use any kind of app on your phone or did you basically get scammed into telling them your login details.
If it was "just" a phone call I would't be too concerned about the phone itself having been compromised - unfortunately you were as a human.
If the online app has been frozen, how do you know the money went in and out?
Friend nearly got caught by scammers who pretended they had rung from the bank and sounded very convincing, they told them not to log into the app as their phone had been compromised. Eventually they were trying to get them to put all their money into one account but it was a long play to get to that point, they probably had skimmed the details of that account (lots of fake rearrange your parcel delivery scams get card details, which most people don't fall for but can be easier at this time of year when people are expecting lots of parcels)
Have you only had calls from them? Easiest way to be more confident is to call your bank on the number on the website (most will have a fraud number listed i think) and they will confirm if this is genuine.
Friend nearly got caught by scammers who pretended they had rung from the bank and sounded very convincing, they told them not to log into the app as their phone had been compromised. Eventually they were trying to get them to put all their money into one account but it was a long play to get to that point, they probably had skimmed the details of that account (lots of fake rearrange your parcel delivery scams get card details, which most people don't fall for but can be easier at this time of year when people are expecting lots of parcels)
Have you only had calls from them? Easiest way to be more confident is to call your bank on the number on the website (most will have a fraud number listed i think) and they will confirm if this is genuine.
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