NatWest’s latest campaign video, voiced by British actor Simon Callow, packs a punch to warn customers against the ever-present threats of fraud, in conjunction with Halloween.
‘The Scammer House of Horrors’ features British actor, Simon Callow, recounting real-life horror stories of customers falling victim to scams while perpetrators pretend to work for the bank, NatWest.
The actor is well known for starring in plays such as Notting Hill, Shakespeare in Love and Twisted Fate which tells a story about individuals losing their earnings through false pretences and promises.
The most prevalent types of fraud that affect people in the UK include phishing (57%), smishing (40%), identity fraud (27%), postal scams (25%), romance scams (25%) as well as unauthorised use of a bank card. Increasingly, hackers are devising more sophisticated means of tricking customers in the age of cryptocurrency and digital transactions. As such, a new variant of scam in investment and cryptocurrency has been reported to affect 21% of UK people.
NatWest says education on the dangers of fraud is pivotal to protecting society, particularly vulnerable people and the older generation who tend to be targeted by this crime.
Fraud expert at NatWest, Stuart Skinner commented: “It is terrifying that these stories are drawn from real-life cases, but we hope it helps others to be equipped with the knowledge to spot and stop these scams themselves”.
In a report commissioned to answer how protected British adults are from online fraud, the findings pointed to a problem that is worsening exponentially with over half of British adults (51%) admitting to take extra precautions to destroy receipts from their online accounts.
The research also indicates that at a time when internet dependency has never been higher, half of adults fear they will be a victim of online fraud in the next 12 months.
