Impersonation scams

Impersonation scams are both common and very dangerous.

They often involve a scammer pretending to be an organisation such as HMRC, energy suppliers, or your bank, and then using the organisation's authority to make demands of you.

Emergency fraud support

If you need immediate support, you can reach our dedicated team 24/7.

Call 159

If you're in the UK

Message in-app

By tapping 'Support' > 'Report fraud'

How impersonation scams often work

The scammer contacts the target Having identified them by their personal information

The scammer impersonates a person or organisation Such as a family member, HMRC, the police or their bank

The target sends money or personal information Believing the scammer's request to be legitimate

How to protect yourself from impersonation scams

1. When someone contacts you

Don't trust contact details

Scammers can spoof real phone numbers and email addresses.

Never trust someone who has contacted you just because they're using legitimate contact details.

Verify their identity

Legitimate organisations have ways of verifying their identity.

At Tide, we always verify our identity in your Tide app when we call you.

Stop the conversation

If you don't trust who's calling you 100%, end the conversation.

Then contact the person or organisation yourself through their known or public contact details.

2. When someone makes demands

Don't make immediate payments

Scammers could pose as HMRC and threaten a penalty if you don't pay them immediately, or pose as a bank and say you need to urgently move your money to a 'safe account'.

Real organisations never pressure you. You'll always have time to check, and Tide will never ask you to move your money to a 'safe account'.

Don't click links or scan QR codes

Scammers can hide dangerous software in links and QR codes. By clicking on them, you could open your device up to a cyber attack.

If the person needs you to click a link, ask them to instead help you navigate to the page through a search engine on your own device instead.

Don't share personal information

While it's normal for certain information to be requested, there are things you should never share.

A real organisation will never ask you to tell their staff any one-time passcodes or verification codes. At Tide, we never ask for your full card information, your card's security code, or your account balance.

A bank impersonation scam in action

This quick video shows how a bank impersonation scam might happen, so you can be prepared in case you're ever contacted by a scammer.

How to spot a caller pretending to be Tide

We've put in place key security features so you can trust when you're speaking to us, and spot when you're not.

Tide

You're contacted by an official Tide number At this point you cannot trust who's calling you

We will verify our identity in your Tide app Find this verification by tapping 'Support' > 'Messages'

We will give you time to check our identity And won't pressure you to make immediate decisions

We will NEVER ask you to move your money Other than to an account you own and is in your name. This only happens when your Tide account is closing, and you'll never be rushed to do this

Scammer

You're contacted by an official Tide number Scammers can clone real numbers and email addresses

A scammer won't verify their identity in your app Ask them to send you an in-app message. If they can't, hang up

A scammer may pressure you immediately To make hasty decisions and not check their identity

A scammer may ask you to move your money Typically to a 'safe account', which is a scam account actually owned by them. The scammer may pressure you to do this immediately

An HMRC impersonation scam in action

This quick video shows how an HMRC impersonation scam might happen, so you can be prepared in case you're ever contacted by a scammer.

What to do if you've been (or suspect you've been) targeted

Report it to Tide immediately By calling 159 from the UK, or tapping 'Support' > 'Report fraud' in your Tide app. Both options are available 24/7.

Apply for reimbursement of your lost funds You may be eligible to your money reimbursed. Find more information on this below.

Find victim support groups There are many services set up to help people through the difficulties of being defrauded. We've listed resources you can access below.