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Scammers have managed to net an average of £23,000 a day over the past six days by posing as HSBC via text message.
Police officers said that they had received 14 individual reports about the text scam, with losses totalling £138,000.
In 2023, a total of £624,000 was lost to such scams.
Most of the texts in recent days have been from 'HS-BC', but officers said that there had also been reports of other high street banks being 'spoofed'.
The scam involves islanders receiving a message stating that a payment has been attempted on their account, and inviting them to reply 'N' if it was not them. Once a reply is received, the individual then receives a call from the 'bank'.
Pictured: An example of the scam text from HS-BC.
The message and call appear to be from a trusted source because the scammers are able to 'spoof' a legitimate company. In recent cases, police said that the texts had referred to a payment being drawn from 'Cryptocom'.
During the calls, the scammers will ask for personal information such as an address or date of birth, answers to security questions. They will claim that the account is compromised or 'frozen' and that the money should be moved to another account.
The scammers will then clear the accounts of all funds.
Anyone who receives a call or text claiming something is wrong with their account is urged not to respond, and instead to go to the bank directly to check if the contact is legitimate. Police advise:
Each bank has its own security tips – click to find your own: Santander International, RBSI/NatWest International, HSBC Channel Islands, Lloyds Bank, Barclays.
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