Stay safe from impersonation scams

Impersonation scams are both common and very dangerous.

They often involve a scammer pretending to be an organisation such as HMRC, energy suppliers, or your bank, and then using the organisation's authority to make demands of you.

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How impersonation scams often work

The scammer contacts the target Having identified them by their personal information

The scammer impersonates a person or organisation Such as a family member, HMRC, the police or their bank

The target sends money or personal information Believing the scammer's request to be legitimate

How to protect yourself from impersonation scams

1. When someone contacts you

Don't trust contact details

Scammers can spoof real phone numbers and email addresses.

Never trust someone who has contacted you just because they're using legitimate contact details.

Verify their identity

Legitimate organisations have ways of verifying their identity.

At Tide, we always verify our identity in your Tide app when we call you.

Stop the conversation

If you don't trust who's calling you 100%, end the conversation.

Then contact the person or organisation yourself through their known or public contact details.

2. When someone makes demands

Don't make immediate payments

Scammers could pose as HMRC and threaten a penalty if you don't pay them immediately, or pose as a bank and say you need to urgently move your money to a 'safe account'.

Real organisations never pressure you. You'll always have time to check, and Tide will never ask you to move your money to a 'safe account'.

Don't click links or scan QR codes

Scammers can hide dangerous software in links and QR codes. By clicking on them, you could open your device up to a cyber attack.

If the person needs you to click a link, ask them to instead help you navigate to the page through a search engine on your own device instead.

Don't share personal information

While it's normal for certain information to be requested, there are things you should never share.

A real organisation will never ask you to tell their staff any one-time passcodes or verification codes. At Tide, we never ask for your full card information, your card's security code, or your account balance.