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Fraud guide
Protect your data
Top tips to stay safe
Fraudsters can use your data to steal your identity and take your money. Follow our top tips to protect yourself from fraud.
- Check the information: always check the information before taking action. Make sure the sender is genuine before clicking on links or downloading attachments. Visit their website or hang up and call back using a trusted number.
- Stay up to date with security: install an antivirus and keep your apps updated. You can also set up biometric approval if you tap your initials icon then settings in our mobile app.
- Keep your details private: don’t share details like your address, birthday, or pets name publicly, with strangers, or in online quizzes and games. These are common security questions and fraudsters could use this information to target you.
- Use strong unique passwords: make unique passwords for your accounts and change them regularly. A mix of letters, symbols and numbers makes a stronger password. See our password security guide to learn more.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi: your home Wi-Fi connection is the most secure, so use it if you can. Otherwise, use a mobile network like 4G or 5G to log into your accounts if you need to.
Things to watch out for
Look out for these common tactics which fraudsters use to target you.
- Unexpected contact: fraudsters often pretend to be organisations like banks, HMRC or delivery services to steal your info.
- Links, attachments, and phone numbers: fraudsters can use these to steal your info or infect your device with a virus.
- Website connection: the website address should start with ‘https://’. Fraudsters can try to trick you by copying genuine websites. Fake sites often have a misspelling or extra characters. A padlock icon in the address bar tells you that they encrypt your data.
- Large, unexplained changes in your credit score: this could be an indication of fraud. Keeping an eye on your score is a great way to keep on top of your financial health.
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Other guides to keep your money secure
My Security Profile
Enhance your security levels.
My Security Profile is a handy tool in your mobile app. It has personalised actions for you, that are quick and simple to take.