Halifax Letter Scam?

Here is a relatively sophisticated (and relatively expensive) scam letter we received recently.  Addressed to an actual person and looking genuine, at first viewing, it took us a while to appreciate that it really is a likely scam.

The initial telltale signs;

• the paper it is printed on is not quite of the quality we expect from a major UK bank
• it isn’t signed – simply from ‘Operations Manager, Halifax”

So then we looked into it a bit more and found the following signs that really do suggest this is a scam;

• the 0345 number doesn’t appear to be a real Halifax number and indeed a couple of people have recorded that they have received calls from it and that they believe it to be a scam number
• the ‘from address’ is an actual Halifax address but for their Share Dealing Service not their general service
• the envelope has the following ‘Return Address’ – 3 City Park, The Droveway, Hove, BN3 7AU which on investigation seems most likely to be a Lloyds Bank address rather than the Halifax

One More Thing – Not the Scam

From this, it seems to me that there are two things that could be done to help us prevent ourselves being scammed. They are;

• A list of owners/renters of 0345 numbers would make it easy to know it the number aligns with the stated organisation
• Similarly when it comes to PO Box numbers

Stay Vigilant