BBC Morning Live expert calls for two-second check to protect against fraud

A consumer expert on BBC Morning Live has highlighted some straightforward steps people can take to protect their bank accounts from unauthorised transactions. Drawing attention to a Nationwide survey revealing these checks take mere seconds, it is an essential precaution everyone should consider where possible.

During the BBC Morning Live programme, host Louise Minchin informed viewers that Nationwide research indicates people are targeted by an average of "two scam calls" weekly. Describing this as "a lot (of calls)," she detailed the protective measures banks are implementing to help customers stay safe and outsmart fraudsters.

Tackling the issue, she revealed that Nationwide has launched a new feature called Call Checker, which enables people to confirm if a call is legitimate. So how does it work?

"What it means is if you bank with Nationwide, somebody phones you up, and you're not sure whether they are actually from the bank, you can open the app, you can click more and then click call checker and instantly you see you are on a call to Alex.

"And if you're not on a call, it would say you are not on a call with us. So that's hugely reassuring for people." The name, for example, Alex, will change depending on who you are speaking to on the phone.

Nationwide isn't alone in offering this protection. Louise added: "Barclays is another example. If you receive a call claiming that somebody from Barclays is calling you, you can request a notification on your Barclays app. Not on your phone, not a text.

"So you go into your app, and you can see whether it's actually your bank calling you. Monzo and Starling do it, they call it 'call status warning'. It will tell you whether or not you are actually talking to your bank. Revolut as well, theirs is called 'We Are Not Talking To You' feature. It says quite clearly at the top of the screen whether or not they're talking to you or not."

This notification should read: "Revolut is not calling you." Louise finds these features handy, admitting: "You would immediately put down the phone, wouldn't you?" if the bank's app said they were not calling you.

Paid the wrong person?

In another prevention solution that Louise calls "interesting", she noted that Monzo has added an undo payment feature. "That means if you make a payment, you've got up to 60 seconds to stop that payment before it goes through.

"And 60 seconds doesn't sound like a very long time, does it? But actually, it just gives you that moment to think 'Did I send that to the right person?'"

According to research by Moneyhub, one in 10 people in the UK have accidentally sent money to the wrong person.

Undo a Monzo payment, step-by-step: