A convincing fake Santander email has been circulating during the New Year, asking customers to update their online banking security. Here’s what it looks like.
The new year has brought more phishing scams to watch out for, with ever-more convincing designs.
This attempt tells Santander customers to ‘confirm your personal details with us’, threatening that they’ll be locked out of their online banking if they do not follow the instructions.
It claims this is part of an online security update, but giving away your information will potentially give scammers access to your money.
In this case, the fake email looks particularly convincing. It uses high-quality Santander logos, and even includes an advert for a Santander bank account, featuring identical wording to genuine Santander marketing emails.
It’s also almost exactly the same as one we saw back in September, but this time the dates have been updated as the scammers attempt to con people going into 2020.
The link included takes users to a professional-looking website with fake security features that make it look real.
Its subject line reads ‘Action required’ which makes it sound official – it’s designed to rush people into carrying out the instructions before they get a chance to query if the email is genuine.
The inclusion of a random number that looks like it could be a customer or case number also adds to the impression it’s legitimate.
But it’s not perfect – you’ll note the bizarre ‘confirm your online’ wording, complete with the incorrect ‘your’.
We made Santander aware of this fake email, it said customers should:
âš Be extremely wary of links and attachments and never enter your banking details after clicking on a link. An email link may take you to a fake website which imitates Santander.
âš Watch out for language such as ‘you must act’
âš Phone the organisation the email or text purports to be from if you’re in any doubt on its official number, which you can find on its website
How to deal with phishing scams
If you’ve received this email, you should ignore it and report it as spam.
But if you’ve received it and have submitted your personal details, call Santander immediately.
Explain what’s happened and that your account security might be at risk. It’ll be able to help and will advise you on what to do next.
We’ve put together a guide that tells you all about these types of scam and how to spot them. You can also find out about what you might be able to do to get your money back if you’ve been targeted by a scam.
Have you or someone you know received this email? Did you think it was from Santander or were you suspicious?
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