Criminals know that people make monthly payments for utilities and similar services. In order to prise important personal information from you they will contact you, pretending to represent your service company. They will seem legitimate and firm, advising you to make future payments into a new account. This will leave your actual true beneficiary unpaid, and the funds you transfer to the perpetrators are withdrawn and you cannot recover them. Contact by these criminals can be made either by calling, e-mailing or texting you their bank details.
Tips to avoid being scammed:
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Use the Bill Payments facility on BNF’s Internet Banking platform. You will find the most common and popular beneficiaries on a list of companies available securely on your internet banking profile. You are assured that payments to these accounts have been verified by the Bank.
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Verify and confirm with the company any official change in banking details. Don’t contact the company on the telephone number you have received on an e-mail or text. Rather, look up the official contact number of the company via other sources. If you know of someone in the company, verify the change with them. In this manner you are ensuring that you are speaking to a true company representative.
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Look out for errors, spelling typos, and any graphical or text that is out of place. Criminals make mistakes and there are signs that will warn you that something is not as it seems.
The content in this article is provided solely to create customer awareness. It does not constitute legal advice.