Team breaking scams ‘spell’ stops £3.5m going to criminals in first half of 2025
A fraud prevention team set up to “break the spell” on victims has stopped £3.5 million of funds getting into the hands of criminals in the first six months of this year.
Santander UK’s specialist Break the Spell team intervenes in situations where it is suspected that customers are being tricked and manipulated by scammers such as romance and payments fraudsters.
Victims of crimes such as romance fraud can end up being highly manipulated by a complex web of stories. They may also be discouraged by criminals from speaking to anyone or encouraged to lie if their loved ones or their bank ask them what is happening.
Santander’s specially-trained team, which uses behavioural psychology, encourages people to open up and supports them, for example by signposting them to further sources of support such as Citizens Advice and the Samaritans, depending on the circumstances.
Cases may be referred to it when there are “red flags” with payments that people are attempting to make. Referrals may also be made from branches.
Michelle Pilsworth, head of fraud and customer experience, said the crime dealt with by the team “is a particularly horrible and cruel crime”.
She told the PA news agency that the team supports people who have been tricked into sending money to people they believe they are in a relationship with, as well as people who have been tricked into believing they are helping organisations such as the police or HM Revenue and Customs.
Ms Pilsworth said: “The reason it’s complex is the level of social engineering… a quick call is not going to ‘break the spell’.”
She continued: “We have to work a long time with them to try and help them see that that is a spell that they’re under.”
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Ms Pilsworth said the team was set up to help understand what fraud victims are going through and to “work with them”.
In some cases, victims may be starting to have their own doubts about a fraud following an initial call from the bank, by the time they are contacted by the Break the Spell team.
“Quite often they will say by that point: ‘Yes, it doesn’t sound right, I’ve had time to think’,” Ms Pilsworth said.
“At that point we will break the spell and we will educate them and stop the payment, protect the funds, all that good stuff.”
But for some people, further intervention may be needed, she said, which could be via calls or branch visits. Staff work to build trust with the customer over time.
As the customer explains to staff what they have been told, seeds of doubt in the customer’s mind may then start to emerge, for example if they recall that they were expecting to meet the romance scammer but they did not turn up.
Ms Pilsworth said: “We get them to realise what’s happening to them. And then, it’s all about support, how do we support that person.”
Scammers will often try to regain their victim’s trust, and so for some people, changing their phone number is a way to stop contact. Some scammers may even pretend that they can help victims recoup funds they have already lost.
“Many colleagues keep customers for days, weeks, sometimes months, because it’s a long process,” said Ms Pilsworth.
Sometimes people may feel embarrassed or angry, but Ms Pilsworth said: “We say: ‘Look, this can happen to anybody, from the work we’ve done we can see this happens to anyone’.”
