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)
- Be suspicious of ANY calls asking for your details, specially if it’s unsolicited.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.