The National Farmers' Union are urging its members to be alert to a banking scam in which fraudsters appear to be targeting the farming community.
The banking sector has contacted the Union to report that fraudsters have contacted a small number of farmers, claiming that they represent their bank and that suspicious payments have been set up against their farm accounts. They then ask farmers to provide account details to make the account secure, with the intent of illegally securing and using the funds in that account.
With the autumn bringing a spike in banking business – stock, crops, feed, seed, fertiliser and bedding are all currently being traded – the Union is asking members to remain alert and to report any calls of this nature to their banking provider. The need for greater vigilance may increase when support payments start arriving in farm business bank accounts in early December.
NFU Scotland’s Finance Director Colin Gordon said: “This is such a busy time of year for farming transactions that farmers could be easily caught out by alarming calls from people claiming to represent their bank’s fraud department. Do not fall for this.
“Representatives of the banking sector have informed us that a small number of farmers have reported receiving calls and are being told that suspicious payments have been set up on their bank account. They are being asked to provide Internet banking log on credentials, customer numbers, passwords or card & reader codes in order to ‘secure the account’ and ‘cancel’ the payments.
“If farmers unwittingly provide that information to the fraudsters, they will use it to make payments on your account.
“Farmers also need to be aware that the caller is also asking the customer to phone the bank using the published number on the back of their debit card to confirm that the call is genuine. The fraudster then holds the line open so that the phone call to the bank is intercepted. The customer then believes that they are speaking to the bank when they are actually still speaking to the fraudster.
“During the call, victims are also asked to turn off their mobile phone. This is an attempt to prevent the possibility of the bank contacting the customer during the Internet banking session.
“The banks have asked us to remind farmers that there are a number of simple things to remember to reduce the chances of becoming a victim of deception.
“Firstly, your bank will never phone or email you and ask for your online password information or any password using your online banking token or card & reader. They will never ask you to make a payment over the phone by using your online account.
“Secondly, if you receive a call claiming to be from your bank and they suggest that you call them back, ensure that you can hear a dial tone first or, where possible, call the bank using a separate phone line from the one on which you received the inbound call. That will prevent a fraudster holding the line open to intercept your return call.
“Farmers need to be aware – but not alarmed – by this scam but any farmer who is concerned should contact their bank.”
