Fraudsters often look for data on people that they can use to impersonate or defraud them.

They may research you or your colleagues, so we advise that you educate your staff about protecting their data and ensure they are fraud aware too.

What kind of data might a fraudster steal?

• Personal details, such as your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number.
• Contact details like your mobile phone, landline, work number and email address(es).
• Memorable information used for security and passwords, such as mother’s maiden name, schools or university attended, pet names, car makes and names of family members.
• Your bank account number, sort code and card details.
• PINs, passwords, Digipass number or other login details.

Ways fraudsters might get hold of your data:

• Social media and online forums – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit – all public platforms could hold a wealth of information about you, your employees, your business and your customers.
• Your company website – if your business has a website, consider what information you include. We advise you not to put your bank details on your website, as fraudsters can use this to impersonate you or your bank.
• Competitions and quizzes – particularly those found on social media websites.
• Calling you and pretending to be a trusted organisation.
• Companies who sell your email address or phone number - always read terms and conditions when signing up for a product or service.
• Bank statements, post and paper documents. Always lock away documents that hold sensitive information and destroy them when no longer required.
• Hacking into email accounts. Ensure your IT systems are secure and be wary of using shared internet connections outside of work. Consider that your suppliers, customers and partners can also have their emails hacked. We recommend that you do not share sensitive data via email – if you need to, encrypt the information with a password.
  

If the text is from a sender you know, or from a shortcode (five to eight digits long):

• Reply ‘STOP’. You shouldn’t be charged for this, and it will let the sender know you don’t want to receive their text messages.
• If you’re unhappy about receiving the text or continue to receive them after asking the sender to stop, you can complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) on 0303 123 1113 or online.

If the spoof text message (sometimes known as smishing) is from an unknown sender, or from an organisation you’re not familiar with:

• Do not reply or click on a link in the text. Responding confirms your number is active and could result in you receiving more messages or calls.
• Report the spam text to your network operator. Simply forward the text to 7726. An easy way to remember ‘7726’ is that they’re the numbers on your phone keypad that spell out the word ‘SPAM’. You may get an automated response thanking you for the report and giving you further instructions if needed, like forwarding on the number the spam text message was sent from. You won’t be charged for forwarding spam texts to 7726.
  

It can be very difficult to spot a fraudulent call. The best thing you can do if you get an unexpected call – especially if the person is asking you to make a payment or move funds, or rushing you to make a decision – is to call the organisation back on the number published on their website.

Fraudsters may call you or someone in your team and pretend to be a well-known business like BT, the bank, HMRC, the police, a supplier or even another person in your business.

Examples of what a fraudster might ask you to do:

• Move your money to a safe, secure holding account
  Fraudsters often call businesses pretending to be from their bank. They may ask you to move your money to a safe account because of suspected fraud or risk to your account. In reality, this ‘safe’ account is controlled by the fraudster. Hang up and report it to Action Fraud UK and your bank.
  
• Change the payment details of one of your suppliers
  Fraudsters often impersonate suppliers and ask businesses to pay into a new account – controlled by the fraudster. Check the caller is genuinely your supplier by calling back on the number on their website or, better still, by calling your direct contact at the company.
• Download something – software, a programme, app or other online tool
  Fraudsters may tell you there’s something wrong with your computer and it’s not secure. By downloading some software, they’ll be able to fix it for you. They might even offer you compensation or a refund for this inconvenience. In reality, the downloaded software could give them access to your computer. They may ask you to log in to your internet banking so they can issue your refund, when really they’re asking you to authorise payments into their own account. Triodos will never call you out of the blue and ask you to transfer money into another account, or download something onto your device.
• Tell them your Digipass codes
  Your Digipass codes give permission for money to leave your account. Never give these codes, no matter what they tell you. We will never ask you for these codes.
  

If you receive a call from Triodos, we’ll be happy for you to question who we are and call us back on the number published on our website, just to make sure. If you can, call us back from a different phone, as an extra safety precaution. Fraudsters can clone numbers, so it may look like the number we use to call you.

We will never call you to ask you to transfer money or for your Digipass codes, and we will never ask you to download software onto your device. If someone calls pretending to be from Triodos, and they ask you to do these things, hang up immediately and report it to us on 0330 355 0355.

There are several ways to log in depending on what type of account you have.

If you’re a Personal Savings or Investments customer you will only need your username and password.

Simply go to our website www.triodos.co.uk and in the top right-hand corner you'll see a link for "Log in" to Internet Banking.

If you’re a Current Account customer you can use your digipass (the green pin pad), digipass PIN (which you set yourself), and details regarding the security word you set up when applying for the account.

We've produced a short online video to show you how to set up your digipass and activate your online banking. Watch the video on YouTube now. 

You will need to complete a Change of Account Operator form, which can be found below, or we can send this to you if you don’t have access to a printer. We will change these details when we receive the completed form signed by the current account operator(s).

Once you have applied for an account online, and it has been opened (or once you've applied for Internet Banking access for an existing account) we'll send your username by email.

For security reasons your unique password will be sent separately by post.  With this information you can then log in and start using Triodos Internet Banking.

If you have opened a Triodos Current Account you will not have a password and username. Instead you can log into Internet Banking with the Triodos digipass.

Bank impersonation fraud is when a fraudster impersonates someone from the bank in order to trick a victim into making payments to a fraudulent account.

What a fraudster might do:

• A fraudster usually calls their victim, though may use email or another contact method. It’s likely they already know information about the victim, including their name and who they bank with.
• While impersonating the bank staff member, the fraudster might tell the victim their account is under threat and they need to make payments to a “safe account” or set up payments in order to “block the funds”.
• The fraudster might ask for details from the Digipass so they can access the account and make payments to the fraudulent account themselves.
• The fraudster might ask the victim to download screen sharing software so they can view or control the victim’s computer. This can make it easier to take control of the account.
• In any scenario, the fraudster will foster a feeling of panic in order to get the victim to comply with their requests as quickly as possible.
• Fraudsters might also impersonate other well-known, trusted companies such as Microsoft, Apple, BT or HMRC.

What Triodos Bank will never do

• We’ll never call you to tell you to log into internet banking or to make a payment to a “safe account”. If we believe your account to be under threat, we can block the account ourselves and do not need you to do anything from your end.
• We’ll never ask you for your full Digipass number or your Digipass PIN.
• We’ll never ask you to download any software onto your PC or mobile phone.

What you can do to protect yourself

• Never give out your personal details to someone who has called you unexpectedly.
• Never download any software onto your PC or mobile phone when asked by someone over the phone or by email – even if you think you are speaking to a trusted organisation.
• Never give anyone your Digipass number or your Digipass PIN. Triodos will never ask for this information.
• Do not let someone else use your Digipass – even a colleague or family member. Your Digipass is assigned to you as an individual and must only be used by yourself. If you leave your place of work, please let us know and we can arrange for your Digipass to be cancelled.
• If you are unsure about someone who has called you claiming to be from the bank or another company, hang up and call back on the company’s published telephone number.

If we are unable to match the information you have entered on our password reset page with the information we hold on record you will need to call our Customer Contact Team on 0330 355 0355 or (+44) 117 973 9339 if you are not in the UK. We will be able to send a new password to you by post, this will be sent to your registered address. When calling us please have your account number and security details at hand.

If you are trying to log into Internet Banking for a Business account you do not need a username and password but will have a Digipass and PIN. 

Our friendly, Bristol-based Contact Team is here for you 8am-6pm Monday to Friday (except on bank holidays when we are closed).

Once you have moved over to the new Triodos Internet Banking, you will have access to the features tour within Internet Banking. There is also more support available at www.triodos.co.uk/help/internet-banking.

You can make a faster payment or CHAPs payment through Internet Banking or the Triodos Mobile App. You’ll need to authorise the payment with either your digipass or username and password.

If you have been upgraded to new Internet Banking then go to ‘Payments’ in the menu. For old Internet Banking go to the account you wish to make the payment from and ‘Make a payment’

In the Triodos Mobile App go to ‘Payments’ or click on the account you wish to make the payment from to proceed.

If you need a new digipass because the battery is low (when it displays 5%) please let us know and we will send you a replacement. You should receive this within 5 business days.

We will replace your digipass free of charge when the battery level is 5% or less. In our experience when it proactively displays “Low Battery” it will still have quite a long battery life left. You can find out the amount of battery left on your digipass by following these instructions:

If you have the older style navy blue digipass:

• Turn it on by pressing the red power button
• Press the letter “T” button five times until the display shows “TEST BATT?”
• Press the “=” sign

The display will tell you what percent of battery you have left.

If you have the green digipass:

• Turn it on by pressing the OK button on the lower right of the digipass
• Press the “>” button four times until you see “5. Info” on the screen
• Press OK
• Press the “>” button three times until it states “4. Battery level” on the screen
• Press OK

The display will tell you what percent of battery you have left.

Development is ongoing so you may have to go back to old Internet Banking for some features and services, we’ll always tell you when this will happen.

The new ‘Feed’ feature allows you to see important notifications, view and send secure messages by clicking on ‘My messages’. This will take you back to old Internet Banking.

Do not respond to any email that asks you for information about your internet banking log in details. If you have received a suspicious email, do not respond and call our Contact Team as soon as you can during our opening hours on 0330 355 0355 to check if it is a genuine email.

Our Contact Team is available 8am-6pm Monday-Friday, and 10am-4pm on weekends for fraud related enquiries only.

Alternatively please email us at contact@triodos.co.uk from the registered email address we hold for you and mark it urgent in the subject line.

If you hold Savings accounts only with Triodos you will use a username and password to log into your Internet Banking. If we are unable to match the information you have entered on our username reminder request page with the information we hold on record you will need to contact us. We will be able to send a username reminder email to your registered email address. When calling us, please have your account number and security details at hand.

Please contact us by sending a secure message in internet banking or call us on 0330 355 0355

We’re bringing Internet Banking up-to-date to be simpler and easier to use. More touch screen friendly. Easier access to your day-to-day banking needs.

Development is ongoing so you may have to go back to old Internet Banking for some features and services, we will always tell you when this will happen.

There are no changes to the way you log in with your digipass and authorise payments. And, access is still safe and secure.

All Personal and Business customers will be upgraded to the new Internet Banking in the coming weeks and will be notified a few days before this is going to happen. You won’t need to do anything.

Watch our video on the new Internet Banking to see the improvements that we have made.