Bit of a no brainer if you don't have an account with them. No bank will email for confirmation of your details. Same thing with the numerous phone calls about my Amazon account……which I don't have!

More dangerous if you do have an account, and triple dangerous if – by chance – you happen to have an open query with your bank, delivery company, Amazon, Pharmacy, BT, or Tax authority etc etc etc.

As it costs almost nothing to send millions of emails the bad guys can randomly spray them across the internet. Sooner or later one of them lands on an agitated customer who is expecting his bank or whatever to get in touch to sort out an ongoing real problem. When this happens, the dud email is much more likely to be accepted at face value.

Another variant depends on information collected from internet users. Naive users often leak addresses and other information that can be used to make scam emails look far more authentic. Also, dishonest internet sellers harvest and sell private data to criminals. Try not to share personal information on the internet, and especially not with dodgy websites.

Unwise to think clever chaps like us will always spot confidence tricks. It's not true! Slow down, read it carefully, don't respond to suspicious requests, and double check everything. Be extra careful if already upset by a real problem because judgement suffers when we're full of adrenaline!

Dave

Santander have this department who ring you up and then ask you to go through security. If you don't do it the nightmare begins.

Their real job is to your make your life so miserable that you close your, "Free Business Banking Forever" account. An offer they have really come to regret.

The mysterious caller cannot be contacted through their usual 'phone line, you have to use the "special" number that goes to Vodaphone Voice mail after half an hour or so. Meanwhile the bank sends you complicated forms to fill in written in Bankese gibberish. Fail to send them on time and they freeze your account. No kidding. I have been frozen twice.

Eventually they will answer their phone. "We saw PayPal activity on your account and assumed you were a Venezuelan cocaine dealer trying to launder his illicit gains!" "Go to my web site and you will find a shop that only takes PayPal". "Okay we will unfreeze you". "Is that it?"

Santander will never contact you this way. They make a point of reminding account holders regularly. If anyone calls you and states they are from the bank, end the call and call the bank yourself. You will have a rigorous security check, but that is to protect you.

BTW, personal details are sold all the time, even the DVLA do this and we can do nothing to stop it.

If you get an email, just hover over the sender and see where it came from.