Search engine phishing

Search engine phishing

Cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways to scam you. That includes when – like many people – you visit our website by entering ‘kbc.be’ into your browser’s address bar or enter it in a search engine and then click the link at the top of the search results.

We’ve recently noticed that cybercriminals are buying ads on Bing to push a bogus KBC website link to the top of browser search results. The page that the scammers are forging is the one where you log in to KBC Business Dashboard using our KBC Brussels Sign for Business app.

How the scam works

  1. The scammers create a fake phishing website that strongly resembles the screen where you log in to KBC Business Dashboard using our KBC Brussels Sign for Business app.
  2. They buy an ad from Microsoft for a specific keyword like ‘kbc.be’.
  3. When you enter that keyword into your browser’s address bar or a search engine, their ad is shown as the first search result you see at the top of the page. Clicking their link takes you to their fake website.
  4. Their phoney login page asks you to enter your login ID and scan and confirm the QR code with our KBC Brussels Sign for Business app on your phone.
  5. The scammers use these details to gain access to your personal KBC Business Dashboard. 

How to protect yourself

  • Never use links to our website or online banking apps (KBC Business Dashboard, KBC Touch and KBC Invest), including links in e-mail, text or WhatsApp messages and search engine results pages
  • Save our official website address (https://www.kbc.be) as a favourite in your browser or enter the full web address manually in your browser’s address bar
  • Be alert when logging in
    o   If it differs from what you’re used to (like if you unexpectedly get a screen asking you to wait a moment or provide more information), stop immediately
    o   Make sure that you’re on our actual login screen before logging in, ensuring that the web address is
          -  ‘https://businessdashboard.kbc.be’ for Business Dashboard
          -  ‘https://kbctouch.kbc.be’ for KBC Touch
          -  ‘https://kbcinvest.kbc.be’ for KBC Invest