The free tutorials will be offered by Leeds Building Society and provide advice and services to equip those seeking to become homeowners with the knowledge needed to recognise a scam.
The business’ Cornmarket branch will provide the programme which consists of 30-minute sessions covering a range of different cons such as online banking and card fraud, scam emails and Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud.
Stephen Senior, Head of Financial Crime Prevention at Leeds Building Society, said the programme will provide people with the necessary knowledge to spot financial crimes.
“According to UK Finance, £1.17 billion was lost to fraud in 2024, a shocking figure and something we want to help to tackle,” he said.
“Through developing this educational programme, we hope to help our members and the general public feel more confident about how to protect themselves from financial crime, and give them the tools and knowledge to spot potential scams.”
Fraudsters avail of a range of methods including social media, email, phone calls and text messages to swindle victims.
Between November 1, 2023, and October 31, 2024, the PSNI received more than 5,200 reports of fraud, with the reported loss of £19m in the same period, according to figures from Action Fraud.
The clinic will be launched in the Cornmarket area of the city (Tim Goode/PA)
News Catch Up – Tuesday 15th July
In one instance, a victim lost over £50,000 in an online romance scam after believing they were helping with a business opportunity.
Another target here was scammed of more than £100k in a bank impersonation scam where a person was called by someone claiming to be from their bank telling them there had been suspicious activity on their account, and asking for money to be moved into different accounts to keep it safe.
Graham Binns, Leeds Building Society’s Head of Branch Network, said he is “looking forward to welcoming more people into our branches to share the knowledge our teams have learned, and help people in Belfast to feel more financially resilient.”
The programmes will be launched across a number of the company’s sites across the UK and follows trial sessions in five branches, including the Society’s Swansea branch.
Tracy McCauley, Customer Experience Manager at Leeds Building Society said: “Our Swansea branch team recently received a call from a gentleman who attended a fraud clinic after a scammer had attempted to gain personal information from him through a text message claiming to be from a parking company.
“Putting the learning from the fraud clinic into action, he instantly knew it could be a scam and didn’t click on the link. He reported the text message to colleagues in the branch to raise awareness and help protect others.
“Since attending the session he says he is more savvy to potential scams and feels more confident about his own financial security.”