Phishing

A scammer, posing as a trusted company or individual, sends you an email asking you to confirm or update your information. Often, a link will be provided in the email for your convenience.

However, the link takes you to a fraudulent website where all of the information you enter—online banking passwords, Social Security numbers, account numbers and more—is recorded for the purpose of defrauding you.

Steps You Can Take:

• Be suspicious of any emails that ask you to provide personal information. BB&T never uses email to solicit your personal information.
• Be wary of what you read. Fraudsters can mask their email addresses, making them appear to come from a company when in fact they don’t. Also, a phone number with a local area code might simply forward calls to another location across the country or around the world.
• Contact the institution directly if you think a particular request might be legitimate. You may do so either in person or by using a telephone number that you know is legitimate, such as one printed on a statement.
• Review your statements regularly. If you’ve been scammed, it’s important to discover it as soon as possible.
• Use anti-virus and anti-malware software to guard against the malicious pop-ups that can appear if your computer is infected.
• Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware “definition” files up to date so that you will be protected against the latest threats.

If you have responded to a phishing email or pop-up and supplied your account information, contact your financial institution immediately.

BB&T clients can call 800-BANK-BBT (800-226-5228).

If the scam claimed a connection to BB&T, please also report it to BB&T Internet Fraud.