Nationwide Building Society has issued an urgent alert to its 16 million members following a wave of sophisticated scams that have seen money illegally taken from customer accounts. The mutual has responded by launching a new security feature within its banking app designed to instantly verify the legitimacy of incoming calls.
The Rising Tide of Impersonation Fraud
New research commissioned by Nationwide reveals the shocking scale of the problem: the average person in the UK now receives eight scam calls every month, equating to two each week. Criminals posing as banks or building societies are a primary threat, with impersonation scams making up 17% of all fraud cases reported to Nationwide.
While these cons target all age groups, the data shows a stark disparity. Those aged over 65 are disproportionately affected, accounting for 55% of all victims. However, younger adults are not immune; nearly one in six (16%) people aged 18-34 and almost two in ten (19%) of those aged 50-65 have also been tricked into handing over money.
How Nationwide's Call Checker Works
The newly introduced Call Checker is a simple but powerful tool integrated directly into the Nationwide app. If a customer receives a call purporting to be from the building society, they can immediately verify its authenticity without ending the conversation.
The process is straightforward: the user opens the Nationwide app, navigates to the "More" section, selects "Call Checker," and the screen will instantly display one of two messages. It will either confirm, "You're on a call with Alex," or deliver the crucial warning: "You're not on a call with us." This provides real-time reassurance that the person on the line is a genuine Nationwide colleague.
The Evolving Tactics of Scammers
Jim Winters, Nationwide's Director of Economic Crime, emphasised the growing sophistication of these crimes. "Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, and impersonation calls are one of the most common ways they trick people into handing over money," he warned.
Fraudsters are employing high-pressure and well-rehearsed scripts to panic victims. Nationwide's analysis shows their bold requests include:
- Asking for personal details (50% of cases).
- Requesting security codes sent via text (34%).
- Instructing immediate money transfers (31%).
- Even coaching victims to lie to their own bank (15%), often by claiming a fraudulent payment is for a friend or relative, to bypass security checks on high-risk transactions.
Call Checker works alongside the existing Scam Checker service, which is already used by 100,000 people and prevents £300,000 from reaching criminals every month.
"We are programmed to trust people," added Winters. "When someone uses clever tactics... it can be hard to know who to trust. Our Call Checker feature gives our customers peace of mind by confirming if a call is genuine, or not. It's a simple and effective step that could prevent someone from becoming the next crime statistic."
