Bank safely

Scam Text and Email Messages

Below you can find out how to protect yourself by spotting both a scam text and email message from a real one.

What to look out for:

• They want financial or personal information - Bank of Scotland or a genuine company would never message you for banking or personal details.
• Unexpected sender - If you don’t know who sent a text or email message then it could be a scam.
• You need to act now - A genuine text or email message will be written in a reasonable and calm way. Scams may use warning messages, threats of fraud or problems with your account.
• How a text greets you - A Bank of Scotland text will include part of your name, account number or post code.
• How an email greets you - A Bank of Scotland email will always greet you by title and surname, as in Dear Mrs Smith. We always include part of your postcode.
• Spelling mistakes - Scam texts and emails often look odd, with a messy layout and spelling mistakes.
• The email address - All our email addresses end with bankofscotland.co.uk. There should never be another word in between bankofscotland and .co.uk. This is a genuine email: name@mail.bankofscotland.co.uk. This is a scam email: name@bankofscotland.mail.co.uk.
• You’re asked to move your money - We will never text or email you to make a test payment online or to move money to a new sort code and account number. We will never ask you to move money to a secure, safe or holding account.
• Invoice scams - People can hack into emails and change payment details on an invoice. Double check payment details before you pay an invoice. If you pay the wrong account, there’s a good chance you’ll lose your money.

What you can do:

If you get a message that seems odd, you should follow these steps:

• Do not reply - Even if you think you know the sender, don’t reply to a text or email message if it seems odd.
• Do not open any links or attachments - Scam texts and emails can put a virus on your phone or computer.
• Call the company - If you’re not sure, phone the company on a number you trust or visit their website by typing their web address directly into the address bar at the top of your screen.
• Double check before you pay - If you need to pay for a job or service, it’s a good idea to confirm the payment details first. Call the person or business on a number you trust, not one from an invoice.
• Call us to make sure it’s genuine - Use the number on the back of your bank card and we can help to check the text or email message.
• Forward the message to our fraud team - Please forward any scam emails to us at security@bankofscotland.co.uk.
• Forward the message to your network provider - You can use 7726 to report the scam text for free to your network provider.

Remember, if you’re not sure about an email or text message – do not reply and delete it.

Next topic: Protect your passwords

Previous topic: Scam calls

Bank of Scotland will never ask you to:

• Share your account details like user ID, password and memorable information.
• Tell us your Personal Security Number (PSN) for Telephone Banking.
• Tell us your PIN code or card expiry date.
• Move money to a so-called secure, safe or holding account.
• Move your money or ask you to transfer funds to a new sort code and account number.