Scam awareness update

Monday, 23rd January 2023

A reminder of what to look out for and how to keep your personal information safe.

As scam activity continues to rise and become increasingly sophisticated, it’s more important than ever to remain vigilant and protect your personal information.

Scammers don’t discriminate. They can operate from anywhere, target anyone and often take advantage of the generosity of people or promote a sense of urgency to catch people off-guard.

Here’s a reminder of the red flags to look out for:

• Unprompted calls, texts or direct messages asking for your personal details or to verify your information by clicking a link
• Spelling mistakes, typos, suspect URLs that don’t match or differ to the company name
• Calls or messages from a number you don’t recognise
• Callers that already know some of your personal information or urge you to act quickly
• Offers that appear to be too good to be true.

Some ways you can protect yourself include:

• Never share your passwords, PIN or access codes with anyone
• Only log on to internet banking or your app securely via the platform itself, don’t click on links
• Report any unauthorised transactions on your accounts or unusual activity
• Always approach charity organisations directly to make a donation or provide support
• Hang up or ignore messages asking for your information and contact the relevant provider yourself
• Try to remember as much detail as possible or take screen shots of messages if you are contacted by a scammer.

Visit our Security Advice page for more information.