Stay Safe Online

At Interbridge Mortgages we have a highly experienced cyber security team using a broad range of security measures, which remain up to date with the latest cyber threat intelligence, ensuring that our customers and their data are safe and secure.

The nature and complexity of fraud and scams have evolved, with social media and new technology allowing criminals to adapt and exploit your online activity for their gain.

Below we have explained some measures that you can take to help keep your details safe, where you believe that the contact you have received is not from our team.

✔ Suspicious email?

Your email is where you keep your most personal and financial information.

If a cyber-criminal accesses your email, they could:

  • access your other online accounts using the ‘forgot password’ feature (which often sends you an email).
  • access personal or business information and use this to scam you or people you know.
  • intercept, redirect, or even send emails on your behalf.

 

Remember – If you’ve received an email which purports to be from us, and you think it may not be genuine; don’t open any attachments, click on any links, or reply to the sender. Instead, please reach out to our team using contact details on our own website, who will be happy to help support you.

A fraudulent email may have the following warning signs:

  • It is not addressed to you personally and doesn’t include an item of information that is unique to you.
  • It uses poor language and punctuation.
  • The content, or the request is unusual.
  • It claims there’s an urgent problem asking you to take immediate actions to protect your account.
  • It contains a QR code, which you are asked to follow.

 

What you can do to protect yourself:

  • Use a strong and different password for your email using 3 random words, which is different from all your other passwords.
  • Turn on 2-Step Verification for your email, which gives you twice the protection so even if cyber criminals have your password, they can’t access your email.

✔ Suspicious call or text?

Your phone number is incredibly valuable, offering criminals a direct channel of communication to you. Reduce the likelihood of criminals gaining your phone number, by thinking about what personal information you (and others) post about online (including on social media sites).

A cyber-criminal can use sophisticated software to hide their identity, and social engineering to trick you into believing that they are genuine. Fraudulent calls and texts can be very convincing – If you are suspicious, end the call and don’t reply to the text.

Remember – If you’ve received a call or text which purports to be from us, and you think it may not be genuine; don’t open any attachments, click on any links, or reply to the sender. Instead, please reach out to our team using contact details on our own website, who will be happy to help support you.

A fraudulent phone call or text may have the following warning signs:

  • The contact is unexpected using a phone number that appears to be ours.
  • When you answer – there is a delay in the caller speaking to you.
  • The caller does not address you personally and doesn’t know any information that is unique to you.
  • The caller says that there is a problem, asking you to give access to your computer, move money into a new or ‘safe’ account or a similar story.

✔ Avoid malware

Malware is a hostile form of software that criminals try to trick you in to installing on your computer or mobile device, by encouraging you to:

  • Open links or attachments in emails, texts or social media messages, that will try to install malware as soon as you do.
  • Download a ‘fake’ or dummy app, that looks like a genuine app, but is designed to capture your log in details.


These are often sent from fake email addresses, that are very close to those used by a real company, and may urge you to act, by setting a deadline.
Always be suspicious, and if you aren’t expecting the message, don’t open any attachments, click on any links, or reply directly to the sender.

Remember – If you’ve received any communication which purports to be from us, and you think it may not be genuine; please reach out to our team using contact details on our own website, who will be happy to help support you.

✔ Protect your devices

Your devices can hold and give access to a significant amount of personal data, which if compromised can be exploited by criminals.

You shouldn’t need to download and install any additional software to protect your phone or tablet, as long as you only install apps and software from official stores like Google Play, and the Apple App Store.

What you can do to protect yourself:

  • Use a different password for each online account and add two factor or multi-factor authentication where possible – If your details are compromised online, scammers can access your personal details and use them to take over your online accounts.
  • Keep all your device software up to date and installed with the latest firewall and antivirus software*.

 

*Antivirus is often included for free with Windows and Apple computers, so if you switch on this built in antivirus, you’ll instantly be safer. Some people wish to seek a separate antivirus product which may come with a free trial before attracting subscription costs. Some products won’t work alongside the built-in antivirus software and may even stop it from working completely.

Remember – If you’re going to sell your computer, mobile phone, or tablet, always ensure that you have followed the manufacturer guidelines to completely erase all your personal data from the device. If you need our help, please reach out to our team using contact details on our own website, who will be happy to help support you.