Scam types in Australia
Two of the three messages on this page are genuine, and that is the lesson. Bank scams are hard precisely because the real alerts look and sound the same — same sender name, same amount, same hour of the morning.
What separates them is what the message wants from you. A real alert has already acted and asks nothing; it names your card's last four digits and sends you to a number you already have. A scam needs you to do something, right now, through its link. And no bank on earth needs the six-digit code it just texted you.
Also called fake bank text, bank fraud alert scam, suspicious transaction SMS, someone asking for my bank code
3 example messages — 1 scam, 2 genuine. Every one is invented for practice, and each links to a page explaining exactly what gives it away.
Text message Bank impersonation
ALERT: A payment of $1,847.00 to APPLE PAY WALLET2 was authorised from your account at 5:58am.
If this was NOT you, cancel immediately:secure-bank-verify.net/stop3
Do not reply to this message.4
Text message Bank alert (genuine)
We’ve temporarily blocked a $1,847.00 attempt on your card ending 4471 because it didn’t look like you. No action is needed and your money is safe.
To discuss it, call us on the number on the back of your card or in your banking app.
We will never ask you for your PIN, password or an SMS code.
Same sender name, same amount, same hour.
Is the “we blocked a payment” bank text real?Text message Verification code (genuine)
882 401 is your verification code.
Do not share this code with anyone, including our own staff. If you did not request it, do not enter it and call us on the number on your card.
This is the real message you get when you log in yourself, and there is nothing in it to fear.
Is a text with a 6-digit verification code real?