The Wise savings scam was highlighted by The Guardian newspaper after we contacted them asking to raise awareness.
This very sophisticated scam tends to start with very convincing adverts on social media in which fraudsters have stolen genuine Wise logos.
The fake Wise savings account offers savings rates of around 5.5% to lure in would-be victims.
When a victim answers the advert they are called by the scammers claiming to be from Wise who talk them through the savings process.
To make the savings opportunity seem authentic the scammers ask victims to send proof of their identity across.
They then help the victim to set up a genuine Wise account to transfer money across to. This adds to the plausibility of the scam.
When they are setting up the genuine Wise account, the fraudsters often put the two factor authentification on their own phone.
Days after people have transferred money into the Wise account the scammers steal the funds.
The scammers appear to be English and are incredibly convincing.
Martin Richardson, senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, said: “We are very grateful to The Guardian newspaper for highlighting this Wise savings scam.
“It is one of the most sophisticated scams that we have seen.
“We think they are spending a lot of money on the scam through advertising on social media. We suspect that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of victims.
“The scammers have been very clever in the way that they are offering a savings amount just higher than the market average.
“Social media companies should be doing more to stop these scam adverts from appearing.”
National Fraud Helpline has successfully recovered money for the victims of the fake Wise savings scam.
Find out more about Fake Wise Savings Scams.
If you have fallen victim to a fake Wise savings account scam contact us to see if we can help. Call us on 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.