I just had a phone call from “my bank” today. And having seen those adverts about some fraudsters tactics, I erred on the safe side when the question changed and told the guy I am calling them back. Stories abound about people getting scammed of their hard earned savings, so here are some advice to hopefully keep your details safe. (not in order of importance)

1. Be suspicious of ANY calls asking for your details, specially if it’s unsolicited.
2. Most banks do not call with a robot voice and some waiting music. When you have that on, I seriously advice to press the mute button while you are “on hold”. The scammers might be listening to you talk and skim information to use next time.
3. Download the bank’s official mobile banking app. They have a call button where if you call via the app, you do not have to answer security questions as they will have you verified via your app already.
4. I hate giving my personal details, the date of birth, address and when asked, I often tell them a wrong one first. This way, you will know if the caller have your correct information or not.
5. Tell the caller you will call back and properly hang-up. Do not call the number they give you if they give you one. Letter from your bank have the phone numbers to call.
6. Give your bank one phone number to call you. If “your bank” calls you on another number, tell them you will call back or properly hangup.

I hope you’ll find these useful. Being scammed is not a very good feeling no matter how small the amount is.