Monzo customers are being warned to stop immediately if they notice one thing on their app. In the bank’s blog, Monzo have noted there is an alert that will sound if you could be at risk of your money being stolen. In a bid to reduce fraud, the app will tell you whether or not someone from Monzo is calling you. This will happen when the app detects that you are on a call and the banking app is open.
It’s feature, introduced in late 2023, will save money from being stolen, the firm says. They added: “It’s a new feature we designed to stop fraudsters from tricking you into sending them money by convincing you they work for Monzo.” Urging people to “hang up”, they explained: “If someone calls and tells you they work for Monzo, open your Monzo app and head to ‘Privacy & security’ in Settings by tapping your profile in the top left of the Home screen.
“If the ‘Monzo call status’ is showing that a member of the Monzo team isn’t talking to you, hang up right away and report it to us. You can start a report by tapping the call status. If the call status in your app shows that a member of the Monzo team is on the phone with you, you’re okay to continue the call.”
Warning that “the call status doesn’t lie” they say that even if someone on the other end is telling you they’re from Monzo and to ignore the alert, you should not believe them. It adds: “For times where you’re not connected to the internet, the call status will reflect that. In this situation we recommend that you don’t speak to anyone claiming they’re from Monzo until you’re connected to the internet again and can check the call status.”
Speaking about “things we’ll never ask you”, Monzo note that it will never ask you to:
send money to a holding account, safe account or any other account
withdraw money from a Pot
make a payment or send money for any reason
accept a notification on your phone
ignore a fraud or payment warning
give us your PIN or any personal information
take out a loan or use Monzo Flex
