Clicking a link in a fake delivery text ‘may lead to life savings being stolen’

Sign up to our free money newsletter for investment analysis and expert advice to help you build wealth Sign up to our free money email for help building your wealth Sign up to our free money email for help building your wealth SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. TSB said that according to its internal data recorded in October, around four in five fraud cases that started with a text used a delivery company as the initial “hook”. Clicking on a link in an SMS might seem like a small act, but it could be the beginning of your life savings being stolen from you Paul Davis, TSB TSB also said its impersonation fraud data recorded from January shows the average loss from cold callers pretending to be from Amazon is £6,700, from BT it is £4,900, from Virgin Media, £3,200, from HMRC £2,300 and from Microsoft it is £1,400. The regulator, which has released an “anti-fraud jingle” to highlight its warning, said it typically receives more reports of loan fee fraud during the festive period than at any other time of the year, with one in 20 calls received between the start of November last year and January 21 concerning loan fee fraud. Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight, FCA, said: “During what is already a period of increased spending for families, it’s a sad fact that scammers will be seeking every opportunity to exploit vulnerable people through loan fee fraud.