From time to time, you probably receive e-mails asking you to pay some amount to unlock your account or pay for a transaction in advance on a private sale website. And your common sense tells you to be suspicious...

But sometimes, the fraud techniques are much subtler, and you could be surprised by apparent legitimacy of an e-mail resembling an official message from your bank.

Recognising a fake email/website remains difficult. Cybercriminals sometimes prepare for months. They can recreate a full website and even have a registered office address.

It’s therefore essential for you to know how to quickly recognise a hacking attempt to avoid having your accounts robbed.

Received an e-mail or call from your bank? Pay attention...

The most common Internet fraud is called phishing. It’s a method that involves:

  • extracting confidential information from you, such as your password, PIN, bank card number, or identity card number.
  • making payments from your account using the “stolen” information.

Classic phishing

Fraudsters appropriate your bank’s logo and identity and create fraudulent e-mails. Verify that the sender’s address isn’t untrustworthy.

The message is always one of urgency: under false pretences, you’re asked to confirm your banking data by “simply” clicking on a link. It redirects you to a fake website that looks similar to your bank’s login page. You’re then asked to fill out various fields or complete operations. You just gave up your confidential data without even knowing it… Before clicking on the link, check what’s written before the first slash: in the case of ING, it should always read ing.lu/ Anything else is not us!

Vishing, a variant by phone

It’s also possible for you to receive a fraudulent phone call. A person claims to be an employee of your bank and, under the pretence of confirming that your information is up to date, asks you to generate codes with your bank card. In reality, now that the fraudster has these codes, he can make payments from your account.

If this happens to you, hang up before sharing any information and call back your bank with the number you have (e.g. in your app) to check it’s really your bank calling.

Bank card phishing

You receive an e-mail asking you to log into your online banking account to renew your bank card. All you need to do is click the link, but this link leads to a fake online banking site where you’ll need to enter your personal information (ID, card number) and the password and PIN for your current bank card. With all this information, fraudsters can then log into the real online banking site and request a new bank card.

  • Either they’ll intercept it (for example, by breaking into your home mailbox),
  • or they’ll ask you to return your old card by post to a fake address – theirs – as part of a card recycling programme, for example.

Don’t be a fish and stay alert! You can read more on the subject here.