
What is phishing?
Cyber criminals are increasingly attempting to trick consumers directly into disclosing personal details or money. This form of online crime is known as phishing.
How do scammers go about phishing?
Over the years, scammers have modified and enhanced their phishing strategies. They used to call their victims and trick them into revealing confidential information. These days, they usually send an e-mail, or a text or WhatsApp message containing a link to a fake website.
On this website, victims are asked to not only enter their personal data and bank details, but also their response codes or PIN. In some cases, scammers ask victims to send them their debit card.
Current types of phishing
How can you protect yourself against phishing?
- Question every message that you receive. Fraudsters can easily add a KBC Brussels logo or fake the sender’s name. If you’re in any doubt, forward suspicious messages to secure4u@kbc.be.
Don't blindly believe every message. We’ll never ask you by e-mail, text message or phone to solve a problem with your account or the online banking service you use with us. - Never give your debit card to anyone else and never send it off in the post.
- Save the real KBC Brussels website (https://www.kbc.be) as a favourite or enter the address manually in your browser.
- Keep the codes you generate with your card reader secret, just like your debit card PIN. They are the key that unlocks your money and they are strictly personal to you. We’ll never ask you for them by e-mail, text message or phone.
- Watch out! Scammers are increasingly using bogus websites with URLs starting with https://. The ‘s’ in https stands for ‘secure’ and tells you you’re using a secure connection. However, that’s no guarantee that the party you’re dealing with is trustworthy.
- Verify that the KBC Brussels website you’re using is legitimate.
Check the URL in your browser address bar and make sure that the: - KBC Brussels website address starts with ‘https://www.kbcbrussels.be’
- KBC Brussels Touch address starts with https://touch.kbcbrussels.be/.
How do I recognize authentic emails from KBC Brussels?
Click here for more info.