The bank fraud that almost cost Moira Stuart a fortune: How the BBC News presenter almost fell victim to a £460m scam that affects 230,000 people a year… so how can YOU avoid being scammed?

Former BBC News presenter Moira Stuart has told how she almost became one of the 230,000 victims of push notification (APP) scams every year.

This method can take many forms, including when criminals impersonate a bank or police officer and convince someone to transfer money to a “safe account.”

Other common forms of app scams that regularly rip off Britons include shopping scams, where victims are tricked into paying for goods that never materialise, or romance scams, where people are duped into believing they are in a relationship.

The scams are usually carried out online through social media and email, or over the phone using calls, text messages, or WhatsApp messages. Scammers try to trick people into handing over money or trick them into giving them personal information and passwords.

Scammers may pretend to be the victim’s bank, a relative or a friend, and try to convince the victim to “authorize” the payment by voluntarily transferring money.

According to UK Finance, the total number of APP fraud cases rose by 12 per cent last year to 232,000 – although overall APP fraud losses fell by 5 per cent to £460 million.

Now Classic FM radio presenter Stuart has spoken out about her experience of falling victim to the app scam after losing almost thousands of pounds to the scam.

Stuart, who had previously reported fraud, was only saved by the vigilance of a bank teller who was unaware of what was happening.

She told The Times that at 9am she received a call from someone claiming to be from her bank, who said someone was working with staff at her local branch to take money from her account.

Stuart said: “I had no idea I had been scammed. The scammer was on the phone the whole time and told me it was an inside job at my bank that they had discovered.

‘He told me to stay on my mobile so he could tell me what to tell the bank staff at the new branch. He said, ‘We’ll send this amount of money from your account and see what happens if they intercept it.”

When she got to the bank counter, she was still talking on the phone when the teller asked what she was doing and said, “Can you wait a moment?”

Stuart continued: “He then took me aside and said, ‘That doesn’t sound right’ and I can’t thank him enough.” She was referred to the bank’s anti-fraud team, who confirmed it was a scam.

“I was absolutely devastated, ashamed and angry at myself. If you’re fiercely independent, like I am, you feel like you’ve let yourself down, your family, everyone who knows you down. That feeling, that intrusion, sticks with you.”

Stuart currently works with AbilityNet, a charity supported by BT Group that helps older people learn new digital skills so they can use the web safely.

This comes after the number of scams in which criminals impersonate banks or the police fell by 37 per cent last year, while losses from this type of fraud fell by 28 per cent.

Experts believe this is the result of significant investment made to warn consumers that the bank will never ask anyone to transfer money in this way.

However, dating fraud peaked last year in terms of losses and cases, which rose by 17 per cent to £36.5 million and 14 per cent respectively.

The total number of shopping frauds rose by 34% to 156,000 and the amount lost increased by 28% to £85.9m – the highest loss and total case amount ever recorded.

Even if criminals fail to persuade victims to make payments through APP scams, they can use collected personal information, as well as stolen card details, to take over existing accounts or apply for new credit cards.

While losses from ID card theft rose by 53 per cent to £79.1m last year, victims of unauthorised fraud such as this are legally protected from their losses.

A total of £287m of APP losses were returned to victims last year, representing 62 per cent of the total loss. This figure rose from 59 per cent in 2022.

UK Finance is supporting a three-point campaign called ‘Take five minutes to stop scams’ which aims to encourage people to stop and think before sharing their money or information.

The second point is the ‘Challenge’, where people are advised to consider whether the request may be fraudulent and that it can be rejected, dismissed or ignored – bearing in mind that only criminals will try to rush you or panic you.

The final section is “Protection.” Here, consumers are encouraged to contact their bank immediately if they suspect they have been a victim of fraud and report the matter to Action Fraud.