NATIONWIDE has expanded its popular Scam Checker service with a new ‘Call Checker’ feature that tells customers they are speaking to them and not a fraudster, it announced today.
AI and security experts welcomed the move, saying “banks are finally beating scammers at their own game”, with one criticising telecoms providers for being “stuck in the analogue age”.
The Call Checker service comes as research from Nationwide reveals the average Brit receives eight scam calls a month – equivalent to two every week.
Millions of pounds is lost every year to impersonation scams, with Nationwide’s own customer data showing they comprise 17% of reported scams. All ages are affected by criminals pretending to be their bank or building society, although Nationwide’s figures show it disproportionately impacts those over 65 years old (with 55% affected). However, around one in six (16%) 18-34-year-olds and nearly two in ten (19%) of 50-65s have also been targeted.
Call Checker gives customers confidence that they are speaking to a genuine Nationwide colleague. It complements its existing Scam Checker service, which is used by 100k people and prevents £300k a month from being lost.
“You’re on a call with Alex”
The new feature enables customers to instantly confirm whether the call they’re on is genuine through Nationwide’s banking app. Customers can open the app, go to “More”, and “Call Checker”, and instantly see whether they’re on a call with Nationwide. The screen will display either “You’re on a call with Alex” or “You’re not on a call with us.”
Nationwide’s research shows the scale of the problem: well over half (57%) of people believe suspicious calls are becoming more frequent, with the average Brit receiving eight scam calls a month – equivalent to two every week. Alarmingly, more than one in four (28%) admit they’re not confident in spotting a genuine call from their bank.
Younger adults are particularly vulnerable. A quarter of 25-34-year-olds would return a call to an unknown number, and 44% have received a scam call, compared to 28% across all ages.
Bold tactics
Fraudsters use increasingly bold tactics when pretending to be a customer’s bank, asking victims to share personal details (50%), provide security codes (34%) in addition to transferring money (31%), and even telling people to lie to their bank or building society (15%).
This gives them access to their victim’s bank account and by asking them to lie to their bank – often suggesting they say they are paying a friend or family – it will help them go under the radar and face fewer checks than a high-risk payment such as an investment.
While over half (53%) of Brits hang up immediately when they become suspicious, only 29% report the incident to their bank and 26% to Action Fraud. Worryingly, this leaves close to a fifth (17%) doing nothing.
Jim Winters, Director of Economic Crime at Nationwide said: “Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, and impersonation calls are one of the most common ways they trick people into handing over money.
“We are programmed to trust people and when someone uses clever tactics and well-practised scripts – often putting us under pressure or making us panic – it can be hard to know who to trust.
“Our Call Checker feature gives our customers peace of mind by confirming if a call is genuine, or not. It’s a simple and effective step that could prevent someone from becoming the next crime statistic.”
Full credit to Nationwide
Rohit Parmar-Mistry, Founder at Burton-on-Trent-based Pattrn Data, an AI and security expert, said “Nationwide deserves full credit here” but pointed the finger at a telecoms industry running on legacy tech.
He continued: “This is a practical, human-centric solution that finally gives power back to the customer in a high-pressure moment. But we must ask: why is this necessary? It’s because the telecoms industry has effectively surrendered our phone networks to fraudsters.
“While scammers are innovating at lightspeed, using AI to clone voices and automate attacks, telecoms providers seem stuck in the analogue age. Their lack of innovation is forcing banks to build higher walls and customers to jump through more hoops just to answer the phone safely.
“We are reaching a point where ‘trusting the line’ is impossible. Until the networks take responsibility for the traffic they facilitate, banks will have to keep adding friction to protect their customers. This isn’t just a banking security update; it’s a damning indictment of a telecoms industry that is failing to protect the public.”
Beating scammers at their own game
Colette Mason, Author & AI Consultant at London-based Clever Clogs AI, added: “Banks are finally beating scammers at their own game. Nationwide’s new Call Checker is a long-overdue reality check for fraudsters who’ve spent years mastering the “official” phone call.
“By embedding identity verification directly into the banking app, Nationwide is finally handing power back to the public. Combined with tactics like O2’s “Daisy”, the chatty and supremely gullible AI grandmother with appalling tech skills, built to keep cold-calling fraudsters talking in circles for hours and stop them targeting the genuinely vulnerable, the message is clear: the UK is becoming hostile territory for impersonation scams.
“If you’re unsure who you’re talking to, hang up, check the app, and let the telecoms AI bots occupy the scammers.”
Mitali Deypurkaystha, AI Strategist & Author at Newcastle upon Tyne-based Impact Icon AI, was also impressed by Call Checker.
She continued: “An AI scam caller never gets tired, never needs a break, never gets sick and can place thousands of calls at once using cloned voices and convincing, real-time conversations.
“This is why Nationwide’s Call Checker matters. It’s elegantly simple. This should become standard, not just for banks but for any institution with an app. If organisations want a permanent place on our phones, security should be part of the value exchange.”
‘Stay alert’ simply not enough
Patricia McGirr, Founder at Burnley-based Repossession Rescue Network, also welcomed the move from Nationwide as AI makes scams infinitely more sophisticated: “Scam calls are no longer about bad accents and obvious scripts. AI has turned impersonation into something slick, calm and dangerously convincing.
“When voices can be cloned and call centres convincingly mimicked, telling people to “stay alert” is a cop-out.
“Nationwide’s Call Checker shifts responsibility back where it belongs. Onto institutions that can verify identity, not customers expected to second-guess a call while panicking about their savings. In an AI-fuelled fraud economy, trust without proof is no longer protection. It is exposure.”
