HSBC UK, First Direct, and Metro Bank have joined Stop Scams UK’s 159 services. Their combined 18.5 million UK bank customers will now be able to contact their bank safely and securely through 159, the anti-fraud hotline, if they receive unexpected, suspicious, or fraudulent calls about financial matters. The hotline provides potential scam victims with a route back to safety when they are at the most risk of being scammed. It is an unprecedented collaboration between telecom providers and UK banks. Over 160,000 calls have been made to 159 since it launched at the end of September 2021.
Despite banks and card companies preventing £1.4 billion in unauthorized fraud, 2021 saw a 39% increase in Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud —where criminals manipulate victims into making real-time payments — compared with the equivalent level in 2020. In cash terms, criminal gangs stole over £583m from individuals and small businesses, by pretending to be either a bank or other service provider and encouraging them to make a payment or transfer money.
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