Nic Mulvaney

Hang up.

A friend of mine was recently scammed out of all their savings from a fake bank fraud squad call. You may have heard the type…

“There’s been some suspicious activity on your account we need to check if these payments were you…”

I have some advice, which I now tell my parents and friends - it’s actually not as obvious as it sounds:

1. If you think it could be a scam, hang up.
2. If you think it could be a genuine call, hang up.
3. If you’re certain it’s a genuine call, apologise and still hang up.
4. If “action needs to be taken immediately” - take your chances, hang up.

Call back on an official number. Even if you know it’s a genuine call, it’s not worth the risk. Scams can be incredibly believable, anyone can be fooled including Security Engineers and Scam Prevention Experts. If a service you use calls you, the onus is on them to prove their identity, not you.

Oh and never read a 2FA security code to someone on the phone.

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