How to protect yourself from fraud

While you cannot always stop fraud from happening, there are important steps you can take to reduce your risk. Being aware of the latest scams, learning how to spot warning signs, and knowing how scammers operate can all help you stay safer.

This page shares simple, practical ways to protect your personal information and money. A few small actions now can make a big difference in keeping you secure.

On this page:

Identity and passwords
Using technology
Fraud education

Identity and passwords

Never share your personal details

Never share your personal details or one-time passcodes (OTPs) with anyone who contacts you, even if they claim to be from a reputable company or the Bank.

If a criminal gets them, they will use these to access your account or may try to register for the mobile app on their own devices. They can then access your account and steal your money.

Use strong passwords and store them securely

Choose strong passwords and keep them stored securely. This helps to keep your accounts secure and can stop fraudsters getting access.

Learn more on how to store your passwords securely

Be wary of unexpected contact

Fraudsters know people are cautious of scams so they will often pretend to be someone else. This is often a trusted company or organisation, a friend or family member, a lawyer or even a potential love interest.

They will persuade you to listen to them by panicking you about something going wrong or will tempt you in with a way of making money. They try to catch you off guard and sometimes contact you early in the morning or late at night to make you think it could be an emergency.

If the contact is suspicious, hang up the call and do not respond to messages or emails. Call us on 159.

Using technology

You can protect yourself from fraud with technology by:

installing and running antivirus software to protect your device from viruses and online threats
using a firewall to stop unauthorised access to your devices and information
keeping your device operating systems up-to-date
using our mobile app so we can send push notifications if there are any changes to your account

To make sure you get these notifications, check that push notifications are enabled. Open The Co-operative Bank app and select More > My Settings and details > Notifications > Notification settings. You will then be taken to your device’s settings where you can turn on our notifications.