How to keep your money safe from fraud

Quick tips to keep fraudsters at bay

Financial fraud is big business. Along with online crime, it costs the UK an estimated £2 million a day, according to the Metropolitan Police. And with increasingly sophisticated scams now being used, staying safe isn’t as easy as you might think.

Coutts is on the front line of the fight against fraud, using cutting edge technology to help protect our clients’ money. The extensive measures we’ve taken include introducing Face ID technology and fingerprint authentication across our digital services, and 70% of calls made to Coutts 24 are now protected by voice biometrics.
 

Top tips to help protect yourself

There is plenty you can do to keep your money safe too. Here’s just some of the advice we give to our clients. Although it’s mainly common sense, there might be something in there you weren’t aware of…

• Don’t be TRICKED into thinking a number displayed on your phone or email address in your inbox is genuine – fraudsters can SPOOF phone numbers and email addresses so they look real.
• HANG UP if you’re concerned a caller isn’t who they claim to be. You won’t offend a genuine caller and calling back from a different phone to a trusted number guarantees your security.
• Carry out a SECOND CHECK via a different communication method to verify whether something is genuine before giving out information or sending funds.
• NOTHING is as urgent as it seems – only a scammer will PRESSURE you into making a payment.
• NEVER agree to move your money to a ‘safe account’ – anyone asking you to do so is a fraudster.
• AVOID paying for goods with payments directly from your bank account – use trusted methods like a Coutts Silk Card, PayPal, Google Pay or Amazon Pay.
• THINK twice when you receive a link via email, text or social media - make sure it’s from someone genuine and if you’ve ANY doubts, don’t click on it as it could download malware.
• NEVER give your debit or credit card to anyone claiming to be from the bank or the police – we’ll never send a courier for these.
• If you’re making an investment, ALWAYS check the firm is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
• NEVER click on a link within an email to a ‘Coutts Online’ login page. We’ll never include such links in our emails.

The Coutts guide to staying safe

To help our clients fight fraud, we’ve produced a guide to what they should look out for and how they can stay vigilant. If you’re a Coutts client and haven’t received that guide but would like a copy, speak to your private banker or call Coutts 24 on 020 7957 2424.

More information is also available at coutts.com/security.