- Home
- > Security and Privacy
Phishing
At Bank of Scotland, we know fraudsters are constantly trying new tricks to get customers to divulge their details. This section has been created to pass on our knowledge of these tricks to you, so that, together, we stop the fraudsters.
What is an email scam?
One of the fraudsters' favourite methods is the email scam. They send an email to thousands or millions of email addresses - one of which could be yours - and try to con the recipient into parting with their precious personal information.
What is phishing?
Email scams are sometimes known as phishing, because they are essentially fishing for information. So make sure you're not the one that gets caught. Learn more with our phishing demo.
How can I spot a scam or phishing email?
At first glance, phishing emails look like the genuine article. They may have an official looking logo and information taken from legitimate websites. But look a little closer - and there are things you can look out for:
- First and foremost, Bank of Scotland would never send you an email asking you to verify your secure online banking details. Any email asking you to 'verify your account', 'confirm your sign in details', or using a similar form of words, is certainly a scam.
- Secondly, beware of links in emails. Web addresses in phishing emails can be disguised so that they appear to be taking you to a trusted address when, in fact, they take you somewhere different. This is usually a spoof site that has been set up by the fraudsters to try and get you to hand over your details.
- Genuine emails from the Bank of Scotland do contain links, but never to the online banking sign-in page. If you are in any doubt about whether an email is genuine, don't click the link.
What to do if you think that you have received a suspicious email?
- Check out our current examples of suspicious emails that are doing the rounds. See the examples for yourself.
- Forward the suspicious email to security@hbosplc.com
- Delete the email.
