Things your bank will never ask you to do

At a glance

• There are certain things that your bank would NEVER ask you to do.
• If you get a call from someone saying they are your bank and they ask for one of these things, then you’ll know that you’re being scammed.
• If you are in any doubt at all, hang up and ring your bank directly on a separate number.

Fraud is on the rise in the UK. According to UK Finance, the trade association that oversees the UK finance and banking industry, some £1.28 billion was lost to fraudsters in 2025 – a rise of 4% on the previous year – with over four million individual cases recorded, an increase of 11%. While companies are doing what they can to keep their customers safe, we have to be vigilant too.

Yet it can sometimes be difficult to spot a scam. Banking scams are evolving, particularly with the rise of AI, and fraudsters are coming up with new ways to steal your cash.

They may call you pretending to be your bank, saying they’re notifying you of fraud taking place on your account and you need to transfer your money right away (into an account owned by the fraudster themselves). They may intercept large payments – for example, if you’re transferring money to a solicitor for a house move, you may get a notification that the account number has changed – or you may simply be paying for goods or services that never arrive.

There are unfortunately a lot of different ways you could get scammed, but the most important thing you can do is to try to keep your bank account safe. This guide will take you through the things to be aware of, and how to make sure your money is as secure as possible.

Things your bank will never do

It’s important to be on your guard when it comes to your money. You should be wary of suspicious-looking emails, texts or phone calls that claim to be from your bank, and never click on any links or part with personal information without being 100% certain that it’s genuine. Be particularly mindful of any communications that make things seem like a matter of urgency, and that your money or account could be compromised if you don’t act quickly – such high-pressure tactics can be used to try to make you act without thinking, but will never come directly from your bank.

Knowing what you can expect from your banking provider is key – and so is knowing what they won’t do. Scammers may try to contact you via a range of means, including phone and email, but they’ve all got the same goal in mind. So, to help you keep your finances safe, here are eight things your bank will NEVER do:

1. Ask you for your full PIN number or any online banking passwords, either by email, over the phone, by text or in person.

Your bank will never ask for your PIN, password or any other personal/banking information, and they won’t ask you to send it to them in email or text form either. Bear in mind that they may need to run through security questions on the phone, such as asking for certain digits of your password, but they’ll never ask for the full thing. If you’re ever unsure, hang up and call the bank yourself.

2. Send someone to your home to collect cash, bank cards or anything else.

This would NEVER happen; don’t hand anything over to people at your door.

3. Send an email with a link to a page that asks you to enter your online banking log-in details.

Phishing scams – where you receive an email that looks genuine, but is actually from a scammer – are all-too common, and will normally ask you to click on a link that will supposedly take you to the bank’s website. Except it’s run by the scammers instead, and any information you input will be captured by them. Never click on a link you receive in an email unless you know it’s 100% genuine – if you’re not sure, ignore and perform your own search instead – and if you accidentally click on it, never input your login details.

4. Ask you to authorise the transfer of funds to a new account or hand over cash.

There’s a particularly sneaky scam whereby someone will call you pretending to be from your bank to warn you that a scammer is trying to access your account, and will ask you to transfer your money to a “safe account” to “protect” it. Except they’re the scammers, and any money you transfer will go into their own account, not yours. It can be easy to fall prey to this as there’ll be a lot of urgency involved and they’ll sound completely genuine, but again, if you’re unsure, hang up and call the bank yourself.

5. Call to advise you to buy diamonds, land or other commodities.

Your bank is unlikely to call you offering investment advice, and even less likely to offer investments into these kinds of commodities. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

6. Ask you to carry out a test transaction online.

You won’t be asked to carry out test transactions of any kind; again, it will be a way to steal your details or get you to transfer money into the scammers’ account, or both.

7. Provide banking services through any mobile apps other than the bank's official apps.

You’ll never be asked to use any apps other than the bank’s official app for banking activities.

8. Ask for remote access to your computer or mobile device.

If someone calls you asking for remote access to your PC or mobile device – often saying it’s to “safeguard” your account or similar – hang up immediately.

Ultimately, be on your guard for any communication from your bank that you didn’t initiate or you weren’t expecting, especially if it asks you to part with your personal information, banking details or your cash itself. Your bank will never ask you for anything of the sort, so always be vigilant.

Tips on how to bank safely

However you choose to conduct your day-to-day banking activities, it’s vital to do it safely. This is particularly important with so many of us choosing to bank online or via mobile app – making sure you’ve got the right security protocols is key, as if someone stole your phone, you wouldn’t want them to then have access to the entirety of your banking information.

You’ll want to set up appropriate PINs and passwords for any banking apps you have – making sure they’re unique and not easy to guess – and ideally set up two- or multi-factor authentication as well, such as biometrics or face recognition.

Never use a public computer to conduct any banking activities, and similarly, avoid using public WiFi to log on. Be wary of any communications you get from your bank as well, and if you’re in any doubt, always call them yourself.

Understanding how to bank safely can be the first line of defence against scammers. Read our guide for more tips on how to keep online banking safe.

What to do if you think you’ve been targeted by a scam

The first thing to do is contact your bank immediately. If you’ve made a payment to someone you suspect is a scammer, your bank may be able to stop or reverse the transfer, and they’ll do everything they can to further secure your account (such as cancelling cards, stopping future payments etc.).

Then you should report the scam to Report Fraud, either by using their online form or calling them on 0300 123 2040. This will log the fraud with the police for further investigation.

If you’ve lost money in a scam but only realised later, you’ll still need to follow the above advice. It may be more difficult to get the money back at this stage, but it’s still important to inform both your bank and the police. If you’ve paid for something using a credit card and think you’ve been scammed, you could start the process of retrieving the funds yourself – the Consumer Credit Act offers means of recouping your funds if your purchase was over £100 in value.

Find out about what you should do next by reading our guides on what to do if you’re scammed and how to get your money back.