Notably, the bank is sounding the alarm about the hike in the number of investment scams which has seen customers lose around £14,000. This example of fraud involves customers being convinced to purchase fake bonds or cryptocurrency. Investment scams are leading to the biggest losses for its customers than any other type of fraud, according to HSBC.
Usually criminals begin an investment scam with a message or calling out of the blue about an opportunity that is “too good to miss”.
Fraudsters will contact their victims for months or sometimes years to get as much money from them as possible.
The bank is receiving reports of scams that involve trading in genuine companies however they are being carried out through a fraudulent intermediary.
Victims will be shown their investments or returns through an app or website by them but will eventually lose contact with the intermediary.
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Outside of investment scams, HSBC is also alerting its customers to other examples of fraud which are losing people thousands of pounds.
These include purchase scams which involve people being tricked into paying in advance for a product or service that is never received.
Furthermore, customers are falling for impersonation scams which are seeing criminals pretend to a credible organisation, such as a bank or retailer, to convince people into parting with their cash or personal information.
David Callington, HSBC UK’s head…
