Secure banking

The PIN (personal identification number) is intended only for you and must not be made accessible to any third party. It consists of a minimum of four and a maximum of eight characters. Do not note down or save your PIN and TAN to ensure that they do not fall into the “wrong hands”. Ensure that nobody can see you enter your PIN or TAN. Each TAN can only be used once and becomes invalid after three minutes. Therefore, please keep the terminal or reader you use to generate the TAN in a safe place.

If you discover that another person knows your PIN or your TAN or both, or if you suspect that they are misusing it, you must change or block your PIN immediately. If you are unable to do so, please inform us immediately. You can reach our blocking hotline daily from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on +49 69 2177-3232.

Do not use a “weak PIN” (e.g. 11111 or 12345). Use a combination of letters and numbers. Please do not use generally known or accessible data, for example, your date of birth. Change your PIN regularly (the PIN must consist of four to eight characters).

Always use the latest version of the Internet browser. This provides the greatest security, as known bugs will have already been fixed.

When you surf the Internet or receive emails, you run the risk of receiving a programme or file attachment with a virus. The virus could damage your computer and seriously compromise security. Antivirus programmes offer good protection. Never install programmes of dubious origin (e.g. chats, newsgroups) and do not open emails from dubious senders. Always verify the identity of the site when downloading software.

Use antivirus programmes and a personal firewall. A personal firewall can protect your computer from external attacks and warns you if someone tries to access your computer while you are online. Make sure that the antivirus program is always activated, even when you are not online. Always install the latest updates and run a full virus scan regularly (e.g. once a week).

Once you access the login page of our online banking portal, an encrypted connection, a so-called SSL connection (Secure Socket Layer connection), is established between your PC and our server. This ensures that the exchanged data is encrypted with a code that is only known to your PC and our server. The URL of a secure connection starts with https. The pictogram displayed in front of the browser line shows our logo.

If you leave your PC unattended, log out of the online banking portal and switch it off or lock it. Special care should be taken when accessing the online banking portal via public Internet service providers or in Internet cafes. In these instances, always make sure that you have logged out completely and it is best to close the browser.

If you are inactive for 5 minutes after logging in, you will be automatically logged out. This reduces the risk of third parties gaining unauthorised access to your account. Log in again to continue working in the online banking portal.

How phishing works

With phishing, scammers send you an email that looks very similar to a notification from the bank or a known company. In the email, you are asked to click on a link or attachment that takes you to a fake website very similar to that of the bank or company. On the website, you are usually asked to enter your data, PIN and authentication via your preferred TAN procedure. By clicking on the links or attachment in the email, scammers can also install malware on your computer without you noticing it.

Do not reply to such emails and do not open these links. Our staff will never ask you for your password or TAN. Enter our address www.bethmannbank.de every time you log in.

How to recognize a fake email

Anyone can use the name of a business or bank as the sender’s name, so always check the sender’s email address. You can do this by clicking on the sender’s name. Scammers often have long, complicated email addresses.

How smishing works

With smishing, scammers send you a text message that is very similar to a text message from the respective bank, institution or company. Have you received a text message like that? Please inform us via our contact form.

How does payment collection phishing work?

A scammer sends you an email that appears to be from the bank. The email states that you have authorised a company or person or that a new direct debit will be debited from your account shortly. To decline it, you should click on the hyperlink provided in the email. By clicking on the hyperlink, you are redirected directly to a phishing site.

What happens next?

Generally, you are asked to provide information such as your name, your telephone number or your personal PIN number and your authentication via your preferred TAN procedure. Once you have done this, scammers may carry out a transaction using your details, or they may call you, pretending to be a bank employee and offering to “help” you. Even if the telephone number looks similar to that of the bank, this is a trick. Scammers will ask you to transfer money to an account at another bank.

Please remember that we will never ask you to share your data, personal PIN number and authentication with us. We will also never ask you to transfer money to another bank account.

If you click on a link or attachment from a scammer, your computer may become infected with a virus, also known as malware.

This is how it works

If you click on a fraudulent link, your computer may become infected with a virus. This gives the scammers access to your bank accounts and allows them to transfer money from your current account to their own accounts.

For example: Text message scams

Scammers pretend to be parcel deliverers. They send text messages with a link to install an app that allows you to track the delivery of your parcel. This app is not available in any official app store. If you download the app, you are installing malware. In this way, you give the scammers access to your banking apps and your contacts, among other things. The scammers send the same text message to everyone in your contact list. Have you installed the malware on your phone? Let us know and reset your device to factory settings as soon as possible.

How to prevent scammers from installing malware on your computer or mobile phone

• Never click attachments or links in an unexpected email
• Follow the above security instructions
• Use a current virus scanner
• Always install updates
• Only download apps from official app stores

This is how they work

Scammers often call you after you have received a phishing email and entered your details on a fake website. Scammers can be very convincing if they know these details about you. They try to gain your trust and persuade you to reveal your security codes, which enable them to transfer money from your account.

Manipulation

The telephone number used by scammers to call you may be the same as that of your bank. This is called “spoofing”. If you are unsure, call the bank yourself. Do not disclose any details or transfer any money.

Important Information

• We will never ask you for your security codes
• We will never ask you to transfer money
• We will never send you a link via email or text message that you can use to log in to the app or online banking
• Report suspicious calls via our contact form

Someone calls you “on behalf of Microsoft”

Scammers who call you “on behalf of Microsoft” often speak English, but not always. Sometimes other company names are used, such as Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and Google.

This is how it works

The callers tell you that you have a problem with your computer and that they need to access your computer to solve it for you. You will be asked to go to a website and download software. This software enables scammers to access and remotely control your computer. To gain your trust, they first pretend to carry out complicated checks before announcing that they can “solve the problem for you”, but only if you pay a small fee via online banking.

At this point, the scammers still have access to your computer! They will try to distract you so that they can change the amount or currency, for example, so that you transfer a much higher amount than you intended.

What you can do

• Ignore unwanted requests from unknown parties that target your computer
• If you are unsure whether the request is genuine, hang up and close online banking
• Close the programme that the scammers used to access your computer
• Delete the software the scammers sent you

Scammers want you to transfer money to their accounts, and they use different tricks to get you to do so. For example, they can send you a fake invoice “on behalf of a known company”.

This is how it works

Scammers put pressure on you by telling you that you are in arrears and threaten to charge you additional fees or contact a collection agency. Scammers send falsified invoices, e.g. for register applications, parking fees.

What you can do

• Search the company’s official website on the Internet. Check who sent the invoice and which account number is indicated on the invoice.
• Check if you or any of your family members were expecting the invoice.
• If you think it is suspicious, open the company’s official website and call the phone number provided.

If you sell things online, e.g. on eBay, you may be contacted by scammers who pretend they want to buy something from you. They will usually get in touch with you via WhatsApp or another messaging app.

This is how it works

The scammer will ask you to transfer a small amount (e.g. €0.01) to them “to make sure it works”. You will receive a payment request that takes you to a fake website and not to the website of Bethmann Bank, ABN AMRO, iDEAL, Tikkie, bunq or another bank. However, the website will be very similar to what you expect.

The scammer logs into your online banking with the data you enter and transfers money to his own current account.

What you can do

• Always be careful when clicking on links you have received via WhatsApp
• Ignore payment requests from people you don’t know
• Check if the website you have entered actually exists

Scammers use social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook to impersonate friends or family and target people. They try to gain your trust by saying that they temporarily have a new phone number. This is called social engineering.

This is how it works

Scammers often use the profile photos of your friends or family and ask you to lend them money. They will ask you to transfer it as soon as possible so that they can buy a train or plane ticket, for example.

Report the phone number to WhatsApp

If you report the scammer’s phone number to WhatsApp, the number will be blocked as soon as it has confirmed that the report is valid. In this way, you are helping to ensure that other people are not scammed. Would you like to save the content of the chat conversation for a police report?

• Take a screenshot.
• Open the chat conversation you want to report to WhatsApp.
• Tap on the three dots in the top right corner.
• Tap “More” and then “Report”.
• Tap on the contact you want to report.
• Scroll down and tap “Report Contact”.

Scammers also act as sellers who sell you something but do not send it to you after you have made the payment.

This is how it works

Scammers try to sell something on eBay or in online shops and they delete it after a few days. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is!

What you can do

• Take a close look at the photos and check whether they appear genuine or could have been stolen.
• If the price seems too good to be true, you need to be extra careful. Check whether the product you want to buy is actually genuine or whether it is an illegal version.
• If you have been the victim of fraud, always take a screenshot of the ad or website. Report the scam to the police and contact us via our contact form.