You'll never have it so good

​Hello,

We’re seeing a rise in scams targeting business banking customers like you. Fraudsters are pretending to be Virgin Money and tricking customers into visiting fake websites, clicking on malicious links, downloading remote access apps, and unknowingly approving fraudulent payments. If you follow their instructions, you could be at risk of losing your money.
 
 
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Well I never did! The above message came from ‘Virgin Money’ with whom I have never had a business account. It follows a phone call, text message and email a few days ago seeking more details on my non-existent ‘application’ for a business account. The phone message left on my mobile even included the caller making a minor correction to their advice, all very realistic. Except they didn’t know my name and a couple of other red flags gave the game away. I wished I’d been able to answer the call, my responses may have tested the patience of the creep who rang. I wonder if some of these genuine sounding individuals are actually unemployed actors trying to make ends meet. But ‘Virgin Money’ are right—scams are on the rise, and they no longer flood the spam folder with ungrammatical, misspelt pleas from close relatives of deposed African presidents. I’ve been told by several players recently that all my photos and videos will be deleted. And that’s after they tried to ring me nine times, they say. Or six times, whatever. Perhaps September is scam month. Now that the Labour Party conference is underway we can see and hear a scam on a bigger scale. A name used under false pretences, players cynically abusing our trust in their good intentions. It’s curious how little the game plan has changed over the years. From Norman Lamont’s ‘no gain without pain’ slogan in the 1997 general election, through ‘prudence’ to austerity to fiscal rules—when exactly do we get our hands on the jam? (Clue: there is no jam)