Call 159: A Simple Step to Protect your Money

Banks are always coming up with new ideas trying to protect your money. For example, the Chase numberless card, Starling’s virtual cards, and Monzo’s “Known Locations” when moving money around. The legacy banks are finally moving away from the card readers into mobile solutions, like Barclay’s “mobile PINsentry”.

A lot of banks will give you a limited version of your bank account when you open it, and slowly unlock features. For larger transfers, you might have to call them up and answer a few questions, and the mobile banks will take you through a questionnaire in-app. Their system will also flag small transfers that seem suspicious.

And finally, pretty much all banks will inundate you with emails and in-app articles about the latest scams, and how to detect fraud. It’s a difficult one to balance: keeping your money safe without disrupting your life too much!

However, if we look at recent data, we only see a slight improvement in financial fraud figures: in 2023, £1.17 Billion was stolen by criminals, compared to £1.2 Billion in 2022. And that’s before taking into account the underreporting around this issue. Needless to say, there’s still a lot of work to be done!

What is 159?

159 is a great initiative that’s slowly getting the public awareness it deserves. It’s meant to be your 999 for financial fraud.

The idea is this: whenever you suspect any kind of fraud, or something just doesn’t feel right, hang up the phone and call 159. They will connect you to the fraud department of your bank, making the experience as smooth as possible.

We all know scammers are getting more sophisticated, both online and in telephone/text scams. Some of the more elaborate scams include the scammer acting as both the criminal and your bank calling to save the day. Some seem harmless like Fedex or asking to confirm details to authorise a delivery.

As you’re reading this, it might seem so obvious and easy to spot. But the truth is that no one is immune. It can catch you on a busy day, or after a sleepless night, and you might not react like you think you would. Perhaps this will convince you? Yes, it can happen to anyone.

Which Banks Work With 159?

• Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Co-operative Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Metro Bank, Monzo, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Starling Bank, Tide, TSB, Ulster Bank

Which Telephone Companies Are Involved in 159?

• BT (including EE and Plusnet), Gamma, O2 (including giffgaff), Sky, Three, Vodafone, TalkTalk, Virgin Media

Visit 159

Take the Quiz

One of the problems with financial scams is that a lot of us think we’re too smart to be conned by them. And between the people who are blissfully unaware, and the ones thinking they’re above it, there’s a lot of upside for scammers.

Take Five is another UK initiative aimed at tackling fraud. They have lots of helpful articles covering all the basics, plus identity theft, ticket fraud, advanced fee scams, and keeping up with the latest. Here’s a quiz that everyone should take. Did you get them all?