At Gatehouse Bank, keeping your money and data safe is a key priority and we encourage all our customers to be aware of potential dangers. Everyone who uses the internet and other digital platforms is at risk of falling victim to online criminals and needs to be alert to the threat they pose.

You should always stop and think before parting with any information or money online. Online criminals are constantly changing the way they go about their business so the best way to tackle them is to be cautious and alert to their scams.

Below you will find some useful information to help protect yourself online.

Be vigilant about communications received

Always be vigilant if you receive a communication asking you to confirm your personal details (especially User ID, passwords or login details) via email, text, direct messaging on social media or a phone call. If you feel you are being pressured into giving your personal details, immediately cut yourself off from whoever has contacted you.

Remember to pay caution to urgent requests. We will never send you a communication aiming to rush you or request a quick unexpected payment to be made – only fraudsters will do this.

Pay attention to subtle differences in website or email addresses. Fraudsters will impersonate companies by creating a website with a similar domain name or use an email address which nearly matches a company’s own.

If you have any doubts whatsoever, about a communication you have received that appears to be from Gatehouse Bank, please contact us before doing anything else and we will be able to confirm if it is legitimate or not.

Contact Us

Useful information

We have provided a number of trusted sources below which have useful information about keeping safe online:

Money Helper (formerly the Money Advice Service) - For a comprehensive overview of different online scams - how to spot, deal with and recover from them - please visit the Money Helper website.

Action Fraud - To report online fraud, or suspected online fraud in the UK, go straight to the Action Fraud website.

Keeping your smartphones (and tablets) safe - All electronic devices need to be as up to date as they can as this reduces the ease of which they can be accessed by hackers. Read the latest UK Government advice about how to protect your smart phone.

Passwords - Always avoid ‘weak’ passwords as well as having the same password for all of your accounts, as these make your account easier to be hacked and your personal information and money accessed. For the latest UK Government issued guidance about passwords, please visit their website.

Phishing, Vishing, Smishing and more - Scams may be disguised in many different ways and delivered via different methods. As an online user you need to be careful of any links or files that have been sent to you as they are an easy way for criminals to infect your computer with a virus or access your personal information. Some criminals will often pretend to be larger companies such as Apple or Amazon. More information about the different types of scams can be found on the Money Helper website.

Latest Scams

  • Take 5 - Take 5 is a national movement in the UK offering impartial advice to all online users to help protect themselves. Their ‘News’ section offers information on the latest scams online fraudsters are using to exploit people

Cost of Living Scam Information

  • The UK Government has a dedicated page on their website outlining what to look out for when scammers pretend to be HMRC, including how to recognise a scam and how to report it. This can be found here
  • Which? have identified five cost of living scams to be wary of as costs continue to rise. All five can be read here
  • Money Saving Expert has made a list of suspicious activities to look out for such as emails and texts requesting personal information and unexpected payments. You can learn more here

Finally, we encourage all our customers to share what they know about the best practices to staying safe online with their friends and family, so more people are aware and knowledgeable and don’t fall victim to online fraudsters.

Page content last updated on 3 November 2022.