How can you protect yourself against attempts to steal your personal or banking data?

The platform ‘Info Service Savings Bank Insurance’ was set up jointly by the Banque de France, the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de resolution (ACPR) and the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). Its “Fraud Prevention” section has been reorganized to help you better detect scams and have the right reflexes in the face of new techniques from scammers wishing to trap you. Among other things, you have access to official fraud prevention guide, which tells you how to protect yourself from phishing.

Phishing is a fraudulent technique where you are encouraged to share your personal data (access codes, passwords...) and/or bank details with a malicious person who pretends to be a trusted third party.

To guard against these scam attempts, it is recommended that you:

• pay attention to the language level of the messages you receive (Now, fraudulent messages are often well written, but if you receive a message from a bank or government agency that contains typos, spelling mistakes, or inappropriate phrases, it is not from the correct institution.)
• check links in suspicious emails you receive (Before you click any links, hover your mouse over them so that the full address of the link appears, and then make sure that the link is consistent and points to a legitimate site.)
• be wary of requests that seem strange to you (no organization has the right to ask you for your credit card code, access codes and passwords for your personal spaces);
• use ad blocker software, an anti-spam filter, or enable the anti-phishing warning option on most browsers.
• never click directly on the ad when you see a pop-up window open while browsing the internet, even if a close button appears within the pop-up window. Always use the X in the corner of the window.

If you have serious doubts about a message you have received, there is a good chance that it is not legitimate. It is recommended that you do not open attachments and do not respond. You need to delete the message and then empty the Recycle Bin from your email.

If this is your work email account, it is recommended that you forward the suspicious email to your company’s IT department and IT Security Officer for verification. Wait for their response before deleting the email or not.