Identifying and Avoiding Phishing Scams: Here’s How You Can Help Us Protect Your Account

Phishing attacks are one of the most common security challenges that companies and individuals face in keeping their information and data secure. Whether it’s getting access to passwords, credit cards, or other sensitive information, phishing attacks attempt to trick users into giving away personal details or other confidential information through deceptive means.

As BDSwiss Group continues to grow, we’ve seen an increase in the number of phishing emails and fraudulent websites used by scammers in order to try and obtain client information. This is, of course, unacceptable, but it’s an issue that the entire financial and investment industry deals with constantly. Working closely with our regulators and global community, at BDSwiss we are always quick to catch and report any such scams or phishing schemes and accordingly update the list of fraudulent websites using BDSwiss’ brand name on our Abuse Warning website. Unfortunately, however, phishing and other forms of cybercrime continue to be on the rise, and for this reason, we need to remain vigilant, always. 

 

What is Phishing?

Like most online scams, phishing refers to the attempt by criminals to obtain your PINs and passwords or even convince you to transfer funds through lies, deceptions and manipulations. They can pose as BDSwiss employees, third party operators, or even automated bots. These scams are designed to look like they come from BDSwiss and can include fake email addresses, pop-up ads, text messages, or even phone calls to try to trick you into sharing personal information.  

 

Phishing Emails

Phishing emails will typically try to imitate our brand complete with company logos, official-looking email templates, or scripts that are similar to BDSwiss communications. Phishing emails will often spin a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. They may:

– include a fake invoice

– prompt you to click on a link to make a payment

– say you must confirm some personal information

– say you’re eligible to register for some sort of refund or bonus

– say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts

– claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information

The most important thing to remember is that scammers cannot replicate our official company email address tag, which ends in “@bdswiss.com”.

 

Social Media, SMS and Other Forms of Phishing

The rise of mobile messaging services including Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, has provided phishers with a new method of attack. A more sophisticated tactic used by phishers is to pose as a person working for BDSwiss on social media or on the phone calling you to “verify your identity” or ask for your payment details. Please remember that BDSwiss representatives will never ask you for your payment details on your personal social media accounts and will never request transfers to other accounts or withdrawals.

 

How can I spot a phishing attack?

While some phishing campaigns are crafted so that they appear to be authentic, there are some key give-aways that can help you spot an attempted attack:

– All BDSwiss communications will be either from a company email address that ends in “@bdswiss.com” or via our in-app and website chat.

 

– Always remember that no BDSwiss employee will ever ask you for your personal passwords, or to withdraw money to any third party accounts, or to install any software to your computer.

 

– Anyone who gets in touch with you via social media pretending to be a BDSwiss support agent or third party operator is a scammer and must be reported immediately.

 

– Closely examine links: hover your mouse over the links. Is this an official BDSwiss website? Does the link in the email match what appears when the mouse hovers over it?

 

– Always confirm the sender’s identity before replying to any email requests and before opening attachments or clicking on links, even if they appear to come from a legitimate source.

 

– If you have any doubts whatsoever about an email or communication you’ve received, please call or contact us directly. 

 

– Remember that providing screenshots of these suspicious communications can be very useful as it can help us identify these individuals and report them or the incident to our regulators. 

 

Identity theft is a crime we take very seriously at BDSwiss, and we hope you will find a minute to familiarise yourself with our tips above to help us keep your account and information secure.