How to protect yourself from telephone scammers

Unexpected calls are a part of everyday life. Companies will contact you for a variety of reasons, from trying to sell you things to conducting surveys. Sometimes you’ll receive a call at the most inconvenient time and, in a distracted moment, you’ve fallen for a scam.

This type of scam is known as “vishing”. It can happen to anyone; the criminals behind such scams are professionals.

Sharing your payment details

There are occasions when we will contact you regarding payments, such as if you make changes to your policy or if there’s an outstanding balance that needs to be paid.

If you ever believe a call is not genuine, do not share your financial details. It’s perfectly sensible to say you’d like to verify the call is genuine by calling Ageas back from the number on your policy documents or from our website. You can call us on 0345 650 0345.

Don’t be rushed

The Money Advice Service say that criminals will often try to get your payment details very quickly because “criminals don’t want to spend ages committing a crime, no matter what it is.” So do not be rushed or harried. If you feel like you’re not able to properly concentrate on the call or don’t have enough time to really understand what’s being proposed, just politely say you’ll call the company back later. Again, do this using a number that you in your records or from the company’s website.

What to do if you’ve been scammed

It can feel awful when you realise you’ve been scammed, but these things can happen to anyone. We’re here to help. If you think you may have been the victim of a scam, please contact us on 0345 650 0345.  We can then discuss how we can support you.

If you have been scammed, you should report it to Action Fraud, you can call them on 0300 123 2040. Being the victim of a crime can be traumatic, the charity Victim Support can help so you might want to call their helpline on 08 08 16 89 111.