Scam alert: Bank impersonation scams

Bank impersonation scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and so we wanted to ensure you remain fully protected. Fraudsters are constantly refining techniques to make their contact appear genuine, often using personal information, technology manipulation and psychological pressure to convince you to disclose sensitive security information.

Our latest update explains how these scams work, the specific red flags to be aware of and the steps you can take to stay safe.

What are impersonation calls?

Impersonation calls occur when a fraudster contacts you while pretending to be a trusted organisation, such as your bank or building society, a government department or a well‑known company. Their aim is to gain your confidence and manipulate you into sharing sensitive information or making payments.

Fraudsters often attempt to appear legitimate by:

  • Spoofing telephone numbers so it appears as ‘Weatherbys’ or mirrors a genuine local number
  • Creating a false sense of urgency, for example by claiming there is suspicious or high‑risk activity on your account
  • Requesting personal, security or payment authentication information, often in their words to ‘stop’ or ‘reverse’ a transaction
  • Pressuring you to act quickly, often under the guise of ‘protecting your funds’.

These calls can be extremely convincing. Fraudsters use professional language, may reference partial personal details and construct detailed, plausible scenarios to make their story sound genuine and urgent.

How the scam works

Fraudsters may approach clients in two main ways.

Scenario 1: When the fraudster already holds some of your information

Fraudsters sometimes acquire limited personal or card information from unrelated data breaches, phishing attempts or online scams outside of Weatherbys. They may know your:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Card details
  • Basic personal details.

Having partial information allows them to sound credible from the outset.

During the call, they may trigger a genuine Weatherbys one-time passcode (OTP) by attempting a transaction using your compromised card information. Because this OTP is legitimately generated by Weatherbys, it appears in your usual message chain, which fraudsters then exploit.

They will falsely claim that:

  • The OTP is needed to ‘stop’ or ‘reverse’ a fraudulent transaction.
  • The OTP verifies your identity.
  • Reading it back ‘stops further fraud’.

In reality, the OTP authorises their fraudulent transaction.

Scenario 2: When the fraudster has no information about you

Even without any personal or card details, fraudsters can still attempt a bank impersonation scam. These attacks rely on psychological manipulation rather than data.

Typical tactics include:

  • Claiming there are suspicious transactions requiring urgent action
  • Asking you to ‘verify your identity’ by disclosing information
  • Encouraging you to install remote access software or follow suspicious links
  • Attempting to prompt actions that trigger a genuine OTP, which they then request
  • Using fear, panic or authority to pressure you into compliance.

These attempts are opportunistic, but very dangerous — and entirely preventable with the right awareness.

How Weatherbys communicates with you

To protect you, Weatherbys follows strict communication protocols. It’s crucial that you know what we WILL and WILL NOT do.

We WILL NEVER:

  • Ask you to read out an OTP
  • Request your online banking password
  • Ask you to disclose card numbers or PINs
  • Tell you to move your money ‘for safekeeping’
  • Pressure you to act immediately
  • Ask you to download remote access software or click external links outside www.weatherbys.bank
  • Call you unexpectedly or without prior arrangement through your private banking team or Relationship Manager.

We WILL ALWAYS:

  • Contact you through known, agreed upon channels
  • Encourage you to hang up if you feel unsure
  • Ask you to call us back using verified numbers from our website or your bank card
  • Support you in verifying whether any contact is genuine.

About Weatherbys OTP security messages

To strengthen your protection, our OTP SMS messages clearly state:

  • ‘ONLY FRAUDSTERS WILL ASK FOR THIS OTP’.
  • ‘DO NOT SHARE THIS OTP’.

These statements are there because Weatherbys WILL NEVER ask for your OTP, under any circumstances.

After a payment is successfully authorised, you may also receive a follow-up SMS confirming the transaction. This message is purely informational. It never requires action, and it is not part of any fraud reversal process.

For a real example of how convincing these scams can be, please listen to a genuine client call recording: https://vimeo.com/944796470

If you suspect that you have been targeted by fraudsters, or if you believe you may have been the victim of a scam, please block your card immediately using the Weatherbys Card App, or call us on +44 (0) 1933 543 600 and report it to Action Fraud on +44 (0) 300 123 2040.

 

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