This is also known as telephone fraud or as impersonation scamming. Someone phones you, claiming to work for your bank, broadband provider or even the police.
They say that fraudsters have hacked your account.
They may ask you for sensitive security information to stop any money leaving. This could include your log-on card number or card reader response codes.
They may also suggest moving your money to a safe account, ask you to pay a fee, or to send a test payment to an account.
Of course, the caller is a fraudster. If they have enough information, they’ll be able to access and empty your accounts. Because they may know your personal details, they can sound very convincing and put you under pressure to act quickly.
How to stay safe
Remember that these scammers can ‘spoof’ genuine phone numbers, such as ours. This is when they change their caller ID to make you think someone familiar is calling you. But there’s one thing to remember - we’ll never phone you and ask you for personal information. If you’re on a call and feel uncomfortable, hang up immediately. Don’t worry about being rude. Contact your account manager or Customer Connect on 0800 470 8000.
We’ll never ask you for your internet banking security information, including your log-on card number, PIN or codes from your card reader. Remember – these codes are used to authorise payments. You shouldn’t share them with anyone.
Just because our number comes up when your phone rings, it doesn’t always mean it’s us. We won’t mind if you hang up or question whether you’re really speaking to us. As well as this, anyone saying they’re from ‘Handelsbanken Internet Security’ is lying.
We’ll never ask you to pay a fee to stop a fraudulent transaction, ask you to send a test payment or ask you to move your money to another account to keep it safe.