Monzo has launched a new app feature to protect customers against fraudulent calls as impersonation scam risks surge.
Customers will now be able to see a new “call status” function that allows them to check whether they are speaking to the bank. If the status shows an advisor is not on the phone, customers are urged to hang up and report it.
The launch of the new feature follows research that shows impersonation scams led to more than £170million in losses across the industry last year.
Ashley Hart, director of fraud at Monzo, said: “We’ve always been focused on stopping fraud before it impacts our customers – that’s why we’ve invested heavily in developing our first-class tech to build features that help protect our customers and their money.
“This is another innovative tool we have added to our arsenal in the fight against fraud, as we continue our work on a range of initiatives, including our partnership with Stop Scams UK, to tackle this industry-wide problem.
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“With impersonation scams now becoming increasingly sophisticated, it’s more important than ever that we do all we can to stay a step ahead and give our customers peace of mind.”
If a customer receives a call from someone claiming to work for Monzo, they can check the call status by opening the app and heading to ‘Privacy & security’ in settings.
They can do this by tapping their profile in the top left of the home screen. If the ‘Monzo call status’ shows that a member of the Monzo team isn’t on the phone, customers should “hang up right away” and report by tapping the call status.
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Priyesh Patel, senior staff engineer at Monzo stressed that the “call status” will never lie. He said: “Even if the person you’re talking to tries to tell you there’s a technical issue or that they’re from a specialist team that wouldn’t show on the call status, don’t believe them. Hang up and report the attempted fraud to us through the app.
“For times when you’re not connected to the internet, the call status will reflect that. In this situation, we recommend that you don’t speak to anyone claiming they’re from Monzo until you’re connected to the internet again and can check the call status.”
Monzo said it will also “never” call customers without arranging it first through in-app chat.
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It added: “If we do call you we’ll always make sure we go through some security questions before discussing anything to do with your account.”
Monzo also said it will never ask customers to:
- Send money to a holding account, safe account or any other account
- Withdraw money from a Pot
- Make a payment or send money for any reason
- Accept a notification on your phone
- Ignore a fraud or payment warning
- Give us your PIN or any personal information
- Take out a loan or use Monzo Flex.
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