Fraud is a “constant” threat, with “bad actors” getting ever more sophisticated in how they try to scam customers, one of Bermuda’s banks has warned.
Butterfield Bank said that fraudsters are moving beyond e-mails and branching out into direct phone calls, text messages and social media.
The warning comes in the wake of The Royal Gazette revealing the case of a man who was scammed out of $35,000 from two HSBC accounts.
It follows the Bermuda Police Service stating that hundreds of financial scams have taken place on the island so far this year.
A spokesman for Butterfield Bank said: “Phishing attacks and other forms of attempted fraud are constant, with fraudsters always looking for new ways to try to steal individuals’ personal information and money.
“Our team continually monitors for new scammer techniques as part of our proactive approach to fraud prevention.
“In recent years, these bad actors have become more sophisticated, moving beyond e-mails into phone calls, text messages and social media.
“Butterfield will never ask you to provide any personal information such as login credentials, PINs or one-time security codes over e-mail, over the phone, or via social media or SMS.
“Individuals can visit the security and fraud section of our website for more tips on how to protect their accounts.”
The remarks come after Raj Hegde, a sub-editor at The Royal Gazette, fell victim to a fake text message falsely claiming to be from One Communications.
The scam operates via a text falsely appearing to be from OneComm regarding a payment query.
It states: “One: We were unable to process your last bill payment. To avoid service suspension, update your details via onedebit.onebermuda.net.”
Mr Hegde clicked on the link and later discovered that $35,000 had gone from two of his accounts.
He said the way HSBC has handled the situation over the past six weeks has left him feeling “angry and offended”.
A spokeswoman for HSBC said: “We strongly encourage clients not to click on links contained in e-mails or text messages and not to enter personal or banking information into websites that those links then connect to.
“Sometimes these linked websites are ‘false fronts’ through which fraudsters access information that clients type into what might appear, without closer inspection, to be a legitimate bank website.
“Clients should not respond to text messages or e-mails that request them to share confidential or personal information, especially banking information.
“Even if a request of this type appears to originate from legitimate sources known to the customer, it is important to remain vigilant as such approaches can sometimes emanate from bad actors that seek to fraudulently attain funds.
“Our employees work closely with local organisations such as Age Concern and Action Against Dementia who have shared the bank’s guidance on the topic of fraud prevention with their members.
“Before responding to a request of this nature, we strongly encourage customers to dial 299-5959 and someone from the bank’s contact centre will be more than happy to provide guidance on recommended next steps.”
In the case of Mr Hegde, HSBC wrongly told him three times that the money had been returned to his accounts only to then inform him that the $35,000 had “disappeared” and had been withdrawn by someone operating an account at the US bank Wells Fargo in Phoenix, Arizona.
When Mr Hegde lodged a complaint with the police, an officer told him that he had received the same scam message twice.
In 2021, island residents were cheated out of almost $4 million in online scams, police reported.
Clarien Bank was contacted by The Royal Gazette about financial scams, but did not respond.
Suspected scams can be reported to the police by calling 211 or e-mailing [email protected].
• Have you been affected? E-mail [email protected]
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