Cybercriminals are constantly finding new ways to steal your money, with increasingly clever methods of gaining your trust before they strike. They often do so sending phishing e-mails before calling you to convince you to transfer money to another ‘secure’ account.

Sometimes scammers send a phishing e-mail before calling you, other times they call you straight away.

You receive a scam e-mail designed to look like it came from KBC Brussels. It contains a link that takes you to a fake website where the scammers try to trick you into entering personal details like your:

1.  Name and phone number
2. Debit card number
3. Online banking codes

They can then use these details to log in to the application you use for banking, whether that’s KBC Brussels Touch, KBC Brussels Mobile or the KBC Brussels Business Dashboard. This lets them access personal information like your phone number, your account balance or the name of your relationship manager, which they can use during the phone call to gain your trust.

You get a phone call from someone pretending to work for KBC Brussels, who claims that your account has been used to commit fraud. The phone number calling you may even have been faked to look like a KBC number. 

To avoid anything worse happening, you’re told to:
– Transfer all your money to a new ‘safe deposit account’ or ‘secure account’ which has been specially opened for you, but is of course managed by the scammers.
– Sometimes they offer to ‘assist’ you with the task at hand. For instance, the caller will ask for your permission to install software on your device so they can remotely transfer all your money.

Don't fall for it! If you suspect fraud, hang up and immediately call Secure4u.

• Use your judgement when you receive a message.
  Fraudsters can easily add a KBC Brussels logo to an e-mail or fake the sender’s name, so forward any suspicious e-mails to secure4u@kbc.be.
• If you’re contacted by a KBC Brussels staff member over the phone or at your doorstep, use the ‘Check who’s there’ button in KBC Brussels Mobile or KBC Brussels Touch to check if it really is someone who works for KBC Brussels. See how to do this in our step-by-step guide.
• Use your judgement when you receive a phone call Scammers can fake the phone number they’re calling from. This is called call spoofing.
• Don’t blindly believe everything you see in messages:
  – KBC Brussels will never e-mail, text or call you and ask you for card reader codes to fix problems with your account, debit card or the online banking service you use with us 
  – KBC Brussels will never ask you for confidential details using a link in an e-mail, by text message or over the phone
  – KBC Brussels will never require you to transfer money to another account
• Save the official KBC Brussels website address in your favourites or enter www.kbcbrussels.be in your browser’s address bar.
• Keep your card reader codes and debit card PIN secret and never reveal them to anyone.

Our security experts track and continuously analyse cybercriminal activity to adapt and fine-tune our security measures.