Westpac warns of Internet scams targeting Pacific Nations

WESTPAC will continue to protect its customers against fraud and the credit-debit card and internet scams targeting Pacific nations in recent months, managing director Geoff Toone says. 

Toone,  said the bank continued to invest in new technologies, and again advised customers of actions they could take to protect their accounts. 

It had advised customers against responding to emails asking to share personal details or enter personal information online.

“We are committed to protecting our customer’s money and their personal information, and fighting back against the fraudsters targeting the Pacific,” he said.  

He said the bank would never send email requesting personal details from customers and urged costumers to report such incident immediately. 

“Westpac will never send an email of this kind and will never ask you to send or relay personal information online.

“If you receive one of these emails purporting to be from Westpac, you can be assured it is a hoax.”

It also advised customers to regularly change their (Perianal Identification Number) PIN number and cover the pin pad when entering the PIN at an ATM or EFTPOS terminal.

The Bank is also investing heavily in new anti-skimming technology which includes “jitter” technology which stops card information from being copied, software and hardware on ATMs with PIN shields that make it difficult for a camera to record a PIN number. It is introducing chip security to its debit and credit cards and closely monitoring customers’ accounts.

It is also querying transactions which seem out of the ordinary and putting a stop to accounts-cards if fraud  is  suspected.

Toone said if customers were in doubt about anything - transactions on their account or email correspondence they receive that carried the Westpac name – they should contact Westpac immediately via the call centre or visit a branch.