‘PHISH & CHIPS’ VAN COMING TO CARDIFF – SANTANDER’S UNIQUE FOOD VAN LETS PEOPLE ‘PAY’ FOR FISH AND CHIPS WITH PHISHING EMAILS AND SMISHING TEXTS

* SANTANDER RESEARCH REVEALS 74 PER CENT OF BRITONS HAVE BEEN
TARGETED BY SCAMMERS WITH PHISHING EMAILS, SMISHING TEXTS AND VISHING
CALLS.1
* AN ESTIMATED 600 MILLION SCAM ATTEMPTS WERE MADE IN THE UK OVER
EMAIL, TEXT AND TELEPHONE IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS.2
* SANTANDER’S UNIQUE PHISH & CHIPS VAN IS TOURING THE UK3 TO RAISE
AWARENESS OF TECHNIQUES USED BY SCAMMERS AND HELP PREVENT THE PUBLIC
FALLING VICTIM – ACCEPTING PAYMENT IN THE FORM OF PHISHING EMAILS AND
SMS PHISHING TEXTS (SMISHING) OR THE COMPLETION OF A PHISHING QUIZ.4
* THE PHISH & CHIPS VAN WILL BE VISITING CARDIFF ON FRIDAY 20TH OF
OCTOBER AND WILL BE PARKED AT QUEEN ST CF10 2HQ (VIA CHURCHILL WAY)
THE NEAREST LANDMARK IS THE CAPITOL SHOPPING CENTRE.

The nation is in the grip of a phishing epidemic, with a staggering
three quarters (74 per cent) of Britons1 targeted by scammers with
phishing emails, smishing texts and vishing calls. With each person
targeted receiving an average of 16 fraudulent emails, texts or calls
last year, this means up to 600 million phishing, smishing and vishing
attempts potentially took place in the UK in the last 12 months.2

Today, to raise public awareness of the UK’s major phishing problem,
Santander UK has given a truly British institution a distinctly phishy
twist: BY LAUNCHING A FISH AND CHIPS VAN THAT ACTUALLY ACCEPTS PAYMENT
IN THE FORM OF PHISHING EMAILS AND SMISHING TEXTS3

Customers at Santander’s new_ Phish & Chips_ van can simply present
staff with a phishing email or smishing text4,in exchange for a
portion of fish and chips, along with a side of advice on avoiding the
tricks criminals use in their attempts to steal people’s money and
identities. Customers without a phishing email or text to show can
alternatively take a short quiz to identify a scam email or text.

The Phish & Chips van will be visiting Cardiff 20th of October from
12pm – 2pm and will be parked at Queen St CF10 2HQ (via Churchill Way)
the nearest landmark is the Capitol Shopping Centre.

While ‘phishing’ as a term may have entered the mainstream lexicon,
Santander’s research shows that one in seven people don’t know the
terms phishing, smishing or vishing at all, while almost three
quarters of people are not fully familiar with their meaning.

REZA ATTAR-ZADEH, HEAD OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AT SANTANDER UK,
COMMENTED: “Santander takes the fight against fraud very seriously –
we have seen the life changing impact it can have on people’s lives.
Consumer awareness is absolutely key to tackling what is currently one
of the biggest threats to the security of people’s finances. Our Phish
& Chips van is a way of delivering our three key fraud prevention
messages in an engaging way while educating people that both banks and
consumers have a role to play in keeping the fraudsters at bay.”

In addition to dishing out fish and chips, Santander UK is serving up
its top tips and advice on avoiding becoming a victim of phishing
scams:

– Never hare your Santander One Time Passcode (OTP), PIN number or
online banking password with another person, not even Santander staff;

– Never download software or let anyone log on to your computer
devices remotely during or after a cold call; and

– Never enter your online banking details after clicking on a link in
an email or text message.

Of the 74 per cent of British adults that Santander UK’s research
shows have been targeted by scammers almost two thirds (65 per cent)
have received a phishing email, 23 per cent a phishing SMS and just
over one in 10 (11 per cent) a phishing telephone call (‘vishing’).
Over a quarter (27 per cent) believed the communications to be
genuine, and seven per cent subsequently fell victim to the scammers,
seeing their identities stolen, money withdrawn from their accounts
and fraudulent payments made on their credit cards.

Although the latest fraud figures from Financial Fraud Action UK5
show an overall reduction of eight per cent in total fraud losses,
there has been a seven per cent rise in the number of cases of remote
banking fraud with a five per cent rise in internet banking, a seven
per cent rise in telephone banking and a twenty per cent rise in
mobile banking in the first half of 2017.

REZA ATTAR-ZADEH ADDED: “Phishing has been around for a number of
years, originating with emails that were unsophisticated and obviously
fraudulent. However, today phishing emails have evolved. They can
appear in inboxes as convincing and genuine communications from
consumer brands, but there are signs to look out for such as spelling
mistakes, generic greetings rather than your name and suspicious
looking email addresses.”

Delving further into the research by Santander UK, the results
suggest:

– It is those AGED 25 – 34 that are most likely to receive scam
communications. However, it is the 18 – 24 year olds that are most
likely to be duped by scam artists, with 39 per cent of this age group
believing a phishing email, text or call to be genuine against an
average of 27 per cent;

– Scammers will target those with HIGHER INCOMES, with 77 per cent of
those earning over 25,000 targeted compared with 71 per cent of those
earning less than 25,000; and

– When it comes to the UK’s phishing hotspots, the research points to
SCOTLAND as the phisherman’s favourite trawling ground, followed
closely by South East England and North East England. The South West,
meanwhile, is the least targeted relative to other regions.