Falling for a phishing scam is often easy.

You receive an email or a text message from your bank asking you to click on a link and verify your account details for a security check or maintenance upgrade, and before you know it you have given a scammer access to your bank account.

The purpose of a phishing scam is to persuade you into clicking on their link, which will take you to a site that looks exactly like your bank’s website, so from a first glance their email/ text message and link will look very authentic.

However, you can avoid being caught out by a phishing scam by identifying these tell-tale signs:
– They are asking you to verify your bank account details and password via a link and website.
– They are asking you to confirm your details for a maintenance upgrade or as part of a security check.
– Their email or text message includes spelling or grammatical errors.
– A bank or financial institution is asking you to verify your bank account details even though you are not a customer.
– They do not include your full name in their email or text message.

Whenever you receive contact like this, never click the link or provide your account details. It is always best to independently find a contact number for your bank and call them to verify if they have contacted you – in this way you can safely determine if the contact is real or a part of a scam.