You have to admit … they are clever

On Monday I received a text purportedly from Vodafone that my monthly payment had not gone through and I needed to update my bank details.

Suspicious as I hold enough money to cover the payment I forwarded it to my accountant who advised me to ignore the text and contact Vodafone by phone.

I was reluctant to waste time and have to be told “Your call is important but have you tried the website” to the accompaniment of blaring music so I did not call them.

A few days later though I received a marketing sales text from Vodafone unlike the rogue text that had the name of the company in red and its logo. On the same day I received a phone call from “Vodafone” which I ignored. I double checked my account and the payment was made.

I was curious how the scammers got my phone numbers but I had to admit that it was clever scam which might well fool someone. And that someone would have their bank account cleared out.

It seems to me the server setting up the rogue site should at very least require sufficient detail for the miscreant to be identified; that Vodafone must have a fraud protection department that can shut down the site; the banks should ensure that an account is safer from theft.

At the moment the victim is vulnerable and I can see why my colleague on a recent post was reluctant to have on line banking on his computer.