NS&I scam alert as customers targeted with ‘very dodgy’ phishing email | Personal Finance | Finance

NS&I customers should be vigilant of a phishing email scam that is doing the rounds targeting savers.

A customer contacted NS&I over X yesterday morning (February 15) after they received a suspicious email purportedly from the group.

They said: “Very dodgy emails arriving addressed to ‘dear valued customer’. Assume they’re not genuine.”

The group responded to say: “We are aware of these phishing emails, please forward these emails to phishing@nsandi.com.”

Scam emails are often addressed generically to ‘Dear customer’ or ‘Dear sir/madam’ although sometimes scammers may also be able to find a person’s name and address it directly to them.

Express.co.uk has asked NS&I for more information about the phishing scam.

Fraudsters often send texts and emails pretending to be from banks or other organisations, to make their messages appear legitimate.

They may say a customer’s account has been compromised, to dupe the victim into sending them their details or putting their funds into a ‘safe account’ which is controlled by the scammers.

Devious scammers are also contacting people pretending to be their relative in the ‘hi mum’ text or WhatsApp scam.

They pretend to be a child or other relative in need, to con a person into sending them money.

Victims have lost thousands of pounds to this scam all while thinking they are lending a helping hand to their loved one.

Lloyds Bank recently warned about romance scams, where the fraudster develops a bogus intimate relationship with a person and then asks them for cash.

The average amount lost to a romance scam was £6,937 in 2023, dropping from £8,237 in 2022.

Liz Ziegler, fraud prevention director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Scammers can be incredibly convincing and leave their victims both emotionally and financially drained. Social media and online dating apps are rife with fake profiles, and it can be hard to tell who is genuine.

“Remember that no good relationship starts by sending money to someone you haven’t met and this should be a big red flag.”

For the latest personal finance news, follow us on Twitter at @ExpressMoney_.