Banking and card fraud: how to protect your bank details in the UK

Bank fraud rarely begins with a hacker breaking into a bank. More often it begins with someone persuading you to hand over the details yourself. The Take Five campaign, run by UK Finance, sets out how criminals do this and how to make it harder for them. This guide follows its pages on banking fraud, card fraud and online scams.

What banking fraud looks like

Take Five says banking fraud happens when criminals use your personal details and passwords to access your bank account and take money. It can happen through internet banking, telephone banking or mobile banking in an app. The page lists several routes:

• Social engineering: criminals trick you into giving up login details and one-time passcodes, often by impersonating trusted organisations such as banks, HMRC or broadband providers.
• Mail interception: they steal your personal information from your post.
• Unauthorised payments: they use the stolen details to log in and make payments you did not approve.
• Remote access: they pose as internet service provider support and persuade you to install software that gives them control of your computer, then reach your accounts through it.

What card fraud looks like

Card fraud covers a stolen card or stolen card details used to buy goods or services charged to you. Take Five names three types: card-not-received fraud, where a card is stolen in the post before you get it; remote purchase fraud, where stolen details are used to buy online, by phone or by mail order; and card ID theft, where a criminal uses a card or details plus stolen personal information to open or take over an account in your name.

Everyday habits that help

On protecting your card and details, Take Five advises you to:

• Keep your card secure and cover your PIN when entering it.
• Check cash machines for signs of tampering.
• Report a lost or stolen card to your bank immediately, and contact your bank if a replacement card does not arrive.
• Check your transactions regularly and set up alerts in your banking app, so you know when your card is used.
• Never click links in emails, texts or social media posts. Verify the website you are on.
• Treat one-time passcodes like your PIN.
• Give personal or financial details only to organisations you trust and have consented to share them with.
• Be wary of uninvited approaches, and contact the company using a number or email address you already know.
• Be cautious of suspicious pop-ups during an online banking session, and check the security options your bank offers.

Protect the information around your accounts

Criminals use what they find about you to make a scam convincing. Take Five advises you to review your privacy settings and limit what you share online, to be careful with the details you use for security questions, to shred documents containing personal or financial details and to keep your bank or card provider updated with your address, using a redirect service when you move. It also recommends strong, unique passwords and 2-step verification on accounts holding personal or financial data.

If something goes wrong

Contact your bank immediately, using a trusted number such as the one on your card, or call 159. Then report it to the police at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. Take Five also suggests changing passwords on affected accounts, saving evidence such as messages, emails and screenshots, and watching for follow-up scams that offer to recover your money for a fee.

Where Remove Me fits in

Remove Me offers a free scan with no account needed. You enter your details and the service searches publicly visible web results, known public data breaches (Have I Been Pwned) and a register of data brokers, then shows a report. The report is unlocked with a 6-digit code sent by email. Remove Me does not yet send erasure requests on your behalf.

What the sources do not say

Take Five's banking fraud page does not cover how refunds work. For that, speak to your bank.