- Don’t give out any personal details like your address or ‘confirm’ details like your bank account number over the telephone .
- Never enter your PIN into the telephone handset — your bank will never ask you to do this.
- Never share your PIN with anyone.
- Do not pay money until you have checked the credentials of the company that you are dealing with. This includes sending money abroad and using methods of payment that you are not comfortable with.
- Do not give out your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source.
- If you receive a phone call from someone you don’t know, always ask for the name of the person you are speaking to and whom they represent. Verify this information by calling the company’s head office yourself.
- Do not reply to unsolicited texts, e.g. texts referring to accident claims even to get them stopped. Simply delete them.
- It is best not to respond to missed calls that come from numbers you do not recognise. Be especially wary of phone numbers you do not know. They may charge you higher rates if you answer them and can turn out to be very expensive.
To help reduce marketing calls, sign up to the Telephone Preference Service. The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a free service. It is the official central opt out register on which you can record your preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls.
It is a legal requirement that all organisations (including charities, voluntary organisations and political parties) do not make such calls to numbers registered on the TPS unless they have your consent to do so. For more information, please visit www.tpsonline.org.uk
