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Welsh consumer magazine. Lucy Owen learns about the latest tricks criminals are using to fool people into handing over their cash.

X-Ray is back for new series, starting with a scams special. Lucy Owen meets new university students in Swansea, and finds out about the latest tricks criminals are using to fool people into handing over their cash. Rachel Treadaway-Williams investigates a sophisticated scam where fraudsters used 'number spoofing' to convince a man from Newbridge that he was speaking to his bank. He transferred more than Β£50,000 of his savings before realising he'd been duped. Omar Hamdi tries out the latest futuristic phone boxes to appear on the streets of Swansea. And are you addicted to your smartphone? Lucy challenges a family from Barry to change their habits for a week.

30 minutes

Last on

Tue 2 Oct 2018 11:45

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Number Spoofing Scams

Number Spoofing Scams

More than Β£500 MILLION pounds has been stolen from customers of British banks so far this year - and the scams are becoming more sophisticated, often using technology to fool us.

β€˜Number Spoofing’ is a fairly new method of scamming, where unauthorised callers can disguise the number they are calling from using a legitimate number. It is very easy to access; we were able to find a website offering the technology within a few seconds. We tested one of the websites offering the service, and for only a few pence a call, your number can be quickly and easily changed.

In May this year John Williams from Newbridge received a call from his bank’s general inquiries number. As John recognised the call to be from his bank, he trusted the call was legitimate. But it wasn’t. The fraudulent callers were then able to convince John to allow remote access to his laptop and make withdrawals from Mr Williams account, totalling Β£53,000.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Lucy Owen
Presenter Omar Hamdi
Reporter Rachel Treadaway-Williams
Series Producer Joanne Dunscombe

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