Scams take many forms in banking, but they all have the same goal: to find victims. Fraud now relies on increasingly sophisticated tactics that make communications look as if they come from banks (or other institutions), when they do not.
You can prevent losses
- Look closely at any messages you receive or see that appear to be from the bank.
- Stay informed about new scam methods.
- Check the accounts you hold with our bank regularly, along with the transactions. The BT Pay (for individuals) and BT Go (for businesses) apps are a big help with this.
- Invest — above all, time — in your online safety education. Test your knowledge; it’s a chance to see where you stand today. Here are a few extra BT resources as well: Types of fraud, Online safety and Pause before you click.
The bank will never ask you for the following (no matter the channel — email, phone, SMS, WhatsApp, social media, etc.):
- Download an application that gives remote control of your phone/laptop, or install an app via links you’re urged to click
- Transfer money to a specific account
- Enter personal or financial data by following links
- Provide login details for BT apps (username, password)
- Provide card details (number, PIN, CVV, expiry date)
- Download files from the internet
- ‘Unlock’ your bank account by clicking a link
- Take immediate/urgent action to ‘resolve’ a problem related to your relationship with BT
- Follow steps, with phone guidance, because ‘BT has approved a loan even though you didn’t apply for one’. Red flag: trending scam method
- Open a new bank account, guided over the phone, to ‘receive dividends from investments’. Red flag: trending scam method
Suspect fraud? Contact BT:
Stay vigilant.
