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Fraud on the Rise                                                 

We have seen several customers falling victim to email fraud after receiving emails that look legitimate. It’s important to note that these scams may often involve impersonating a senior person in an organisation who is authorised to conduct bank transfers.  Fraudsters will carefully research and closely monitor their potential victims and their organisations. We encourage our customers to be vigilant as email accounts can be hacked and details of attachments may be amended, such as remitting beneficiary details etc.

Lately Gibraltar as a jurisdiction has been the focus of cyber fraud attempts via SMS mobile phone messages and email scams. The scams purport to be genuine messages from banks and request that the bank clients click on the links provided and proceed to introduce their security details, username and password. It should be noted the TNB would not send links to clients to re-confirm their security details or any personal information. Please contact your relationship manager immediately and report the incident if you think you have erroneously provided your details.

Some Red Flags to look out for:

  • Don’t trust the displayed name in the email
  • Look but don’t click
  • Never open emails that don’t look right and don’t click on link that you are not sure about
  • Never give sensitive information
  • Beware of terms like ‘urgency’
  • Check for spelling or grammar mistakes
  • Look at the salutation
  • Check the domain if possible
  • Take care on attachments
  • If an SMS message or email purporting to be from your bank asking to confirm your security details – o not reply or click any links

By spending a few minutes confirming details such as the above can prevent this type of fraud. If an email doesn’t seem quite right, make sure to confirm with the original sender if possible. If you suspect you have been defrauded don’t hesitate in contacting your relationship manager and call your relevant authority.

Another type of scam on the rise, are persons falling into ‘Romance fraud’. This is a scam that involves people lured in sending monies to criminals who gain victim’s trust and convince them that they are in a genuine relationship. Some examples of what the criminals claim money for are for medical care, transport costs etc. The relationship usually is will be made overtime.

Some Red Flags and Suggestions to follow:

  • Don’t share your personal or contact details
  • Use trusted dating websites
  • Don’t send or receive monies to / from unknown individuals
  • Trust your instincts
  • Think twice before using your webcam.

If you suspect you have been defrauded don’t hesitate to contact your bank and call your relevant authority.

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