Fraud at Christmas

Spot and stop fraud

Here are some rising scams and tips to help you stop them in their tracks.

Stay safe when buying online

Scammers will use fake websites to trick businesses into buying products that don’t exist. They might approach you online, by email or via social media ads. After payment, the product or service is never received. Worse still, they may use the credentials they’ve harvested to carry out fraudulent spend on your cards.

• Always research websites before entering any details, and never enter any personal or security information in a site accessed through an unverified email link
• Don’t solely rely on reviews on the company’s own website. Look for alternative online reviews that may highlight risks
• Don’t assume a website is genuine because it has a padlock in the address bar or browser window, as fake sites can have these too
• When making a purchase, search for the company’s details via the GOV.UK website to see if they’re registered.

Look out for gift card scams

Fraudsters will target employees with gift card scams, particularly at this time of year. They impersonate senior managers, such as the CEO, and send emails, texts or WhatsApp messages asking the receiver to purchase gift cards for employees. They’ll ask for photos of the voucher codes and use these to purchase items for themselves.

• Any requests of this nature should be independently verified with the requester, using a number held on file
• Ensure all staff are trained, vigilant and empowered to challenge such requests
• Consider how much information is revealed about your company and key officials through your website, social media and out-of-office automated replies.

If this happens, it’s not us

Don’t assume a caller, or sender of an email or text, is genuine because they have information about you, your business or cardholders – even if the caller ID or email address appears to be genuine.

To help you identify suspicious activity, here’s what we’ll NEVER do:

• Call you to request your one-time passcode or PIN
• Call you to ask you respond to a text
• Call you unexpectedly and direct you to a website
• Ask you for sensitive information via email or text
• Take control of your computer