Protect against fraud
How to stay ahead of cyber criminals
Beware of phishing sites
Never enter your user number, username or other personal or confidential data on websites that seem suspicious or that you don’t know. How can you know if a website is genuine or fake? Check the URL in the browser’s address bar! A safe and trustworthy link will always belong to our main domain *.sparkasse.at (e.g. www.sparkasse.at, george.sparkasse.at, george-business.sparkasse.at). Alternatively, our links can lead you directly into the George app if it’s already installed on your phone.
“What you see is what you sign”
Carefully check every transaction in detail before giving your authorisation. Please never authorise anything that was not started by yourself. If you are in doubt if something is legitimate, do not trust what someone might be telling you on the phone or in a chat but rather trust in what George shows you on your signing screen – because what you see here is what’s really happening.
Pay attention where an information is presented to you
You can trust the information and messages within George - these are well protected and can only originate from your trusted bank or advisor. However, be extra careful on other channels, e.g. when you receive emails, SMS, unsolicited calls or messages on social media – these channels are not secured in the same way and can be used by anyone, including fraudsters. It’s a good attitude is to remain vigilant when someone contacts you “out of the blue” on one of these channels.
Don't let yourself be put under pressure
One of the most common tricks by fraudsters is to put you under pressure to act quickly and without thinking too much. This is why many fraud schemes work with a sense of urgency (“Hello Mum” scam, Police scam), an appeal to your desire for profit (investment scam, fake shops), your loss aversion (fake banker call) or they appeal to your emotions (love scam). Note that we will never put you under pressure and we’ll never ask you to authorise logins, money transfers or alleged “cancellations” of such transfers via phone or e-mail.
Something feels not right? Contact us!
If you have any doubts or if you have encountered something unusual, please do listen to your gut feeling, leave the conversation and contact our George Helpdesk. Our team is happy to assist you.
Typical features of fraud (“red flags”)
You receive unexpected, but urgent requests concerning your finances.
Pressure is built up to make you act quickly and without much thought. This way, the fraudsters try to avoid that you listen to your “gut feeling” or consult someone you trust for advice.
The communication often starts on an open and widely accessible channel such as SMS, email, messenger, social media or a selling platform.
Very often, the messages contain links that lead to “look-alike” (phishing) pages on which you should provide personal or confidential data.
Tip: If you look closely at the URLs of such pages, pay attention to the language used and “listen to your gut feeling” you can often discern such fake (phishing) pages from well-known, reputable websites that operate and communicate in a different way.
- Scammers often keep you busy for a long time, e.g. through repeated or lengthy phone calls or chat conversations. Also here, the intention is often to prevent potential victims from pausing to think again or asking a trusted person for advice.
- Something sounds “too good to be true”. Ask yourself: If an offer is so good, why is it then being offered to me of all people? Why doesn't the person keep the lucrative secret to themselves? Is there maybe something else behind it?
- Something does not “add up”, e.g. the authorisation screen in George tells you something else than what you would have expected. This is a very strong indicator that something is not right and that you should stop and take a deep breath.