Can number spoofing be stopped?

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The regulator Ofcom tells Money Box people shouldn’t trust Caller ID. It says the spoofing of numbers can be stopped, but to do so will take years. Spoofing has been used by fraudsters to convince thousands of people they are being called by banks or HMRC and trick them into handing over tens of thousands of pounds.

It's more than two years since the collapse of London Capital and Finance where investors lost £237m. This week the government announced a new scheme in which almost 9,000 people will get some of their money back.

Why do many banks charge 39% interest on overdrafts but pay less than 1% on savings? Listener Edwyn describes the difference as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘scandalous.’ Paul talks to Sarah Coles, personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

And what happens to your pension if you die before drawing it? Romi Savova from PensionBee explains.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Sowda Ali Producers: Ben Carter and Joe Kent Editor: Alex Lewis

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.8	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.5	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put
0:28.3	together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:35.0	check out BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. Almost 9,000 people
0:41.4	who trusted their money to the now bust investment firm, London Capital and Finance, are to be
0:47.0	compensated by the government. Banks charge us 39% on overdrafts, but pay us less than 1% on savings. How do they justify the difference?
0:57.0	And what happens to your pension if you die before drawing it?
1:01.0	But first, we've reported before on Moneybox that caller ID is being routinely hijacked by thieves
1:07.0	to convince their victims that they're calling from a bank, HMRC or even the police.
1:13.4	They do this by replacing their own number with that of a real company or organisation,
1:18.6	and once victims are lulled into a false sense of security,
1:22.3	the thieves get sensitive information from them and often steal life-changing sums of money.
1:27.9	As Liz explained on last week's Moneybox podcast.
1:31.5	When this came through on the mobile, it had the right number.
1:35.1	It had the bank number and it also had the logo saying Cooperative Bank.
1:39.3	So when they rang you on caller ID, it had the number of Cooperative Bank.
1:43.8	Yeah.
1:44.4	What happened then? They said check the number of Cooperative Bank. Yeah. What happened then?
1:45.6	They said, check the number that we're calling you from, and it was the Carp Bank.
	...

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