JENNI MURRAY: I thought I was too savvy to be scammed... until now
Share:
I honestly thought I was too savvy to be scammed. I’ve had emails from thieves in Nigeria asking for my bank account details so they could send me the millions of pounds I’d won on what was clearly a fictional lottery. I knew neither of my sons was lost abroad somewhere without money, so didn’t fall for that one.
![[The Italian Strictly trophy puts our modest glitter ball to shame]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/25/16/93478069-14226011-image-m-18_1735143010191.jpg)
And when I’ve received demands for payment from, say, Microsoft, I’ve always found a number to ring to check it’s genuine. It’s surprising how often it is an attempted scam. Nevertheless, I had a text and a call purporting to be from my bank last month which showed me how vulnerable even the most careful of us can be.
I was told the call came from my bank’s fraud department and I was asked if I recognised a transaction on my credit card of .00 GBP to Google. It said ‘*Temporary Hold unknown 17.11.2024 06.46.23 APPROVED’. Of course I didn’t recognise it, as I told the bank. They informed me they suspected it was an example of a new kind of scam. They would block my card and send me a new one as soon as possible.
This was most inconvenient. I was about to set off for my cruise to the Canary Islands and there was no way they could get a new credit card to me before I left. They told me not to worry as I’d be able to use my debit card instead. I thought no more about it, grateful my bank’s fraud department appeared to be doing their best to protect me.
On the ship there was a small group of speakers including the financial whizz, Paul Lewis, familiar to most from Radio 4’s Moneybox. I’ve known him for years. He’s often scared me to death pointing out some failure of mine to be clever enough with my money.
