Scammers are tricking customers by appearing to call them through their bank's official number.

Eastern Daily Press: A screenshot of the website in which the woman from Watton filled out her details believing she was applying for a tax return. Photo: SubmittedA screenshot of the website in which the woman from Watton filled out her details believing she was applying for a tax return. Photo: Submitted (Image: Archant)

A Lloyds customer from Watton, who did not wish to be named, said she received a call from her bank's customer service number on Tuesday, but the caller turned out to be a scammer.

The call came after she was tricked by fraudsters into submitting a fake tax return online, two days earlier.

She received an email on Sunday claiming to be from HMRC offering a £445 tax refund. A link in the email took her to a website which mirrored the GOV.UK website to claim a refund.

It requested her bank account details, debit card details, including three digit security code, home address, and mother's maiden name.

Two days later she got a phone call with the number displayed as Lloyds' customer service number.

It is a tactic used by fraudsters called number spoofing.

"They could hear us but I couldn't hear them," she said.

She then got a call from someone with "No Call ID" claiming they were from Lloyds' fraud team and that her account had been hacked.

The caller asked several questions about the account and whether she held other accounts with Lloyds.

They also asked for the last four digits of those accounts, the balances and wanted her to transfer all the cash in the savings accounts into the current account.

The woman said she believed what the caller had been telling her - that her account had been hacked.

They even sent two text messages to her phone stating two fraudulent transactions had been attempted on her account, £1,000 and £50.

She said these texts also came through Lloyds' customer services number.

"They came across as very believable," the woman said.

Her partner then stepped in to stop her transferring the money across to her current account.

She said she had reported the case to Lloyds.

A Lloyds spokesman said: "Helping keep our customers safe is our priority and we are working behind the scenes 24/7 to help protect them from fraud, including number spoofing.

"We are working across the industry and beyond including with Ofcom to help stop scammers, and urge people never ever to give their bank details out over the phone."

-Tips to stay safe

·Treat all messages and calls with caution

·Your bank will never ask you to give your full account details

·Don't ever give out your bank details in a text or email - never give more than a simple answer like yes or no

·If you receive a text out of the blue saying that your account is "at risk", it's more likely to be a scam

·Never click on links in texts or open email attachments claiming to be from your bank, as this could download malware which scammers use