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Impersonation scams

Scammers are pretending to be trusted organisations, such as building societies, banks or even the police. On Take Five Week, find out the steps you can take to protect your money.

Published on: 13 April 2023

Take Five to Stop Fraud - ‘Seems Legit?’

We’re proud to be supporting Take Five Week, 17 April - 21 April 2023. Take Five is an industry-wide fraud awareness campaign that empowers you to understand how scammers work and how to protect yourself. Scammers are experts at impersonation. They spend time researching you, hoping you’ll let your guard down for just a moment. However, there are things you can do to protect yourself.

What are impersonation scams?

Impersonation scams are when scammers call or message you, pretending to be a trusted organisation. They often pretend to be your building society, bank or the police. They may even pretend to be someone you know.

How to identify an impersonation scam

  • Do you feel pressured?
    Does the message or call feel urgent? Legitimate financial organisations will never try to rush you. You shouldn’t feel pressured or feel as though you don’t have time to think.

  • Are you being asked for personal information?
    If you’re asked for personal or financial information, it’s not rude to refuse. Remember, we will never call to ask you for your full PINs, passwords, or passcodes.

  • Are you being asked to transfer money?
    You should never be asked to move your money to another account. This is a common ‘safe account’ scam. You can discover more about how to avoid ‘safe account’ scams in our earlier fraud article.

    ‘Safe account’ scams

How to protect yourself from an impersonation scam

  • Think about the request
    Remember, it can be difficult to immediately spot an impersonation scam. Scammers often spend time researching individuals to sound convincing. It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests.

  • Stop all contact
    If something doesn’t feel right, or if you are uncertain whether a scam is occurring, you should end the phone call.

  • Call 159 to check who you spoke to
    To check whether you are speaking to us, telephone 159. This is a secure number available 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It puts you straight through to us. We are always happy to confirm whether we contacted you.

What to do if you think you’ve been a victim of a scam

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud or a scam, report it to us immediately.

To stay safe, follow the advice from Take Five to Stop Fraud (opens in a new window).

Victim Support

Our partnership with this independent charity supports customers who’ve been a victim of fraud or a scam. They offer a tailored service to meet your individual needs. It’s free, non-judgemental and confidential. And they will help you for as long as you need.

The Nationwide Fraud team will refer you for further support if you need it.

Learn more about Victim Support

Stop. Challenge. Protect

We're proud to be supporting the industry fraud awareness campaign Take Five, which encourages you to perfect the art of saying NO to criminals by taking five minutes to Stop, Challenge, Protect.

Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police so it can be difficult to spot scam texts, emails and phone calls. However, there are things we can all do to protect ourselves.

Always remember to challenge if someone contacts you asking for your personal or financial information – be direct and say NO. Saying NO can feel uncomfortable but it’s OK to reject, refuse or ignore requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

Take Five websiteReport fraud

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