Do you know who's calling you? Stay safe and scam-aware

Let's talk about a common scam to which people fall victim daily.

It’s known as impersonation scamming, and it’s where fraudsters contact you claiming to be from Revolut, your bank or even the police or tax authorities. This can happen via text, phone call, email or social media.

They’ll tell you there’s an issue with your account and ask you to move your money to a ‘safe account’, or trick you into sharing passwords and personal information.

They may threaten you with legal or criminal action, or tell you that your money is at risk if you don’t move it.

You probably think you’d spot attempts like this, but scammers are very successful at stealing people’s money. They can even make it look like they’re calling and texting from the same number as trusted institutions.

They’ll try to create a sense of panic and urgency that clouds your judgement.

So how can you avoid becoming a victim of an impersonation scam?

Here’s our ten top tips:

1. Revolut, your bank, tax authorities, the police etc. will never ask you to move money to another account
2. Never download software if someone claiming to work for one of these institutions asks you to. They’re trying to access your personal information
3. Never share sensitive information such as your PIN or passcode with anyone, especially if they’ve contacted you unsolicited
4. Never give anyone access to, or control of, your personal device
5. If someone contacts you threatening legal action or a fine if you don’t transfer money, do your research or get legal advice before taking any further action
6. Fraudsters can fake phone numbers to make it look real on your phone. Just because it appears to be from an organisation’s number doesn't mean it’s official
7. If you’re contacted out of the blue, don’t share your personal or financial details. Contact the organisation directly using an official email or phone number. Never hit the call-back button
8. Your tax office or social service will never ask for your personal or financial information through emails, texts or phone calls
9. Fraudsters may have some details about you. Just because someone knows your basic details doesn’t mean they’re genuine
10. Revolut will primarily contact you via our in-app chat. If we do need to contact you over the phone, we’ll give you a heads up. If you receive a call you’re not expecting, it might be a scam, so contact us right away. We won’t take offence!

What should you do if you’re a victim of a scam?

If you've been tricked by a fraudster into sending them money, chat to us in-app so we can help:

• Tap your account name on the top left of your screen
• Go to Help
• Then to ‘Chat to us’
• Tap ‘New chat’ (it looks like a chat bubble icon)

If you’re not a Revolut customer, contact your bank, who can then contact us.