Warning to NatWest customers over email scam which gives bank details to thieves

The emails, highlighted by consumer magazine Which?, are designed to con the bank’s customers into sending their online banking login information to a website.

The email informs customers that their “Request to change your mobile number has been received”. It then says that if no such change has been made, to “cancel the request immediately”. Then a “one time pass code will be sent to your previous mobile to authenticate the request”.

The scammers are attempting to make NatWest customers think their account has been hacked and changes made without their knowledge. The genuine looking email then says to click on a link to cancel the “request” that has, of course, not been made.

There are several tell-tale signs that the email is the work of criminals. Firstly it does not come from an official email account, which would end “@natwest.com”. The fake emails and “@natwestsecure.com”.

Secondly the email begins with “Dear Customer”, whereas a real email would address the customer by their name.

Clicking on the link in the email takes the user to a page which looks much like the bank’s login page. But the URL at the top of the page is a string of random words; not a genuine NatWest domain.

Which? says: “Additionally, you’ll notice that the email contains strange formatting and errors, most noticeably in the phrase ‘Online Bankingservices’.

“If you enter your customer number and password on this website, you’ll be handing them to the scammer, giving them access to your bank account.

“A genuine email from NatWest will always contain at least one identifiable piece of information, such as your name or partial postcode.”

Anyone who has given their details to a dubious website should immediately inform their bank on the phone number on the back of their bank card or on the bank’s website. Any suspected scam should be reported to Action Fraud.

Which? advises that scam emails can be reported to [email protected].

To report them to your email provider, select ‘Report Spam’ on Gmail, ‘Report phishing’ on Hotmail or forward emails to [email protected] from a Yahoo account. Dubious looking websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre.