The Phishing Scam: Beware!

Phishing is a fraudulent attempt by fraudsters to deceive you into giving out personal information such as your bank account numbers, passwords and credit card numbers.

How the Scam Works

A scammer contacts you out of the blue, pretending to be from a legitimate business such a financial institution. You may be contacted by email, social media, phone call, or text message. Fraudulent emails may be designed to appear as though they are originated by CBZ Bank or any of its subsidiaries. The emails will urge you to act immediately, usually asking for personal information. The phishing message might claim there is something wrong with your account or that your details need to be updated.

You should not respond to any communications which request any type of personal or confidential information, and do not click on any links listed. The listed links takes you to a fake website designed to look exactly like a CBZ site, with a similar logo and corporate colours making it difficult to differentiate between the fake site and the real one.

Never give out any information that the Bank already has to a caller, text messenger, or email sender. We will never contact you and ask for you to enter online your login credentials or any personal or financial information such as Visa or debit card number. Fraudsters pretend to be well-known companies; be wary even if you think you recognize the sender. We will NEVER ask for your Internet Banking log on details or card details in an email.

 Clues for Spotting a suspicious email from a real one?

  • We never ask you to confirm personal or financial information in an email or web site
  • We do not scare you with urgent warning messages and we never use email to warn you of suspicious activity on your account.
  • Scam emails often look odd, with a messy layout and spelling mistakes.
  • We never link directly to our Internet Banking log on page, or a page that asks for security or personal details.

Recommended Online Protection

  • Maintain active & up-to-date anti-virus software
  • Maintain spy-ware protection
  • Ensure your antivirus and malware software is installed correctly, running the latest software and daily updates.
  • Set up automatic operating system software and security updates. (This will cater for all type of devices, phones, pc, laptops, etc.)
  • Maintain firewall installed on the network
  • Use of public wireless networks is discouraged, if you use a wireless network, it is suggested that you use password protection to access the wireless network.
  • Do not reply, and do not click on any links or attachments on suspicious emails or sites
  • Some phishing attacks may be delayed before any attempt is made to defraud your account. Ensure to change your banking logon information such as your PIN and password regularly to prevent delayed phishing attacks.

If in doubt, or need more information, phone the CBZ 24-hour Contact Centre on:

08677004050
Econet Toll-Free 460 or
Whatsapp 0774 460 460, 0774 461 461