‘I should know better’: tech expert lost £70,000 in one simple phone call

A technology reviewer with more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers lost £70,000 to a phone phishing scam while on a work trip to Tokyo, after a caller posing as a Lloyds bank representative convinced him to hand over security codes [1]. Tom Honeyands, who runs the channel The Tech Chap, received the call late at night while at a dinner. The caller claimed a suspicious transaction had been made in Singapore and that his account needed to be reset [1]. Honeyands said the background noise and jet lag dulled his attention. "I was at a dinner, and it was difficult to hear. That definitely contributed to me not paying full attention," he said [1]. The scammer already knew his name, address, and that he banked with Lloyds. Honeyands believes fragments of information were assembled from his online videos. "You can put together enough information to phone me and, just this once, it worked, which is pretty embarrassing," he said [1]. Over a few hours he approved 12 verifications, which the criminals used to set up new payees and drain £70,000 from his account [1]. The fraud was halted only when Lloyds' genuine security team reached him. The real bank caller instructed him to hang up on both lines and dial the number printed on the back of his card [1]. "I had the hacker on hold and the actual bank security team on another line and was thinking, 'Who is real?'" Honeyands said [1]. Lloyds Banking Group, which separated its retail operations from its investment banking arm Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets in 2016 to comply with UK ring-fencing rules, advises customers to call back on a trusted number if a call seems suspicious [1][8]. Honeyands, reflecting on the breach, said: "I should know better" [1]. He now warns others to limit the personal details they share online, comparing it to the old advice against posting about holidays while the house is empty [1].