Received a suspicious message?

In the height of the global pandemic, EasyJet revealed that the personal information and travel details of 9 million customers had been stolen in a highly sophisticated cyberattack. In the first half of 2021, the personal data of more than 530 million Facebook users, from more than 100 countries, was made available for purchase online. Days after, another 500 million LinkedIn users had their personal information appear on the Dark Web. This data included information like names, birth dates, phone numbers, and email addresses.

What does this have to do with N26? While there is no direct impact on N26, or the security of your bank account, cyber-criminals may utilise information, obtained from attacks targeting other companies, to perpetrate large-scale phishing attacks.

Phishing is a technique used to obtain sensitive information which can be used for fraudulent purposes. By disguising themselves as trusted entities, scammers are able to manipulate people into sharing their personal data. They’re able to accomplish this by targeting people through digital communication channels that we all use on a daily basis, such as: email, SMS, phone call and social media. As a digital bank that’s growing in popularity, N26 customers have been targeted by phishing campaigns, during which attackers send messages, often containing a link to websites that looks very much like the N26 web-app. While they may be convincing on the surface, these websites are malicious in nature, and are in no way connected to N26. In some cases, attackers may spoof our SMS short-code, which can cause their messages to appear in the same thread as messages sent previously by N26. We ask you to remain vigilant, and contact us immediately if anything seems out of the ordinary.

What is N26 doing about this? Our security personnel are continuously monitoring for future attacks, so that they can ensure any fraudulent websites are deactivated as quickly as possible, and so that we as a company can keep your account safe.

As we continue to take precautions to protect your accounts and personal information, there is plenty you can do to protect yourself. Here are some things to keep in mind if you’ve received an unexpected message:

• If you’ve received an SMS from someone claiming to represent N26, always remember that we will never initiate contact with you via any such channels.
• Text messages containing a call to action are always malicious. Do not click on any links or provide any of your personal data. We will never instruct you to do anything via SMS.
• If you have doubts about information that has been shared with you, or you suspect you may have been led to a fraudulent site, proceed with caution. If you’ve been asked to call a number, or send a message to an email address, research the contact data and see if it corresponds to a legitimate company.

If you’re ever unsure, take a screenshot of the message and get in touch with our Customer Support staff via the Chat option in your N26 app, or send it to support@n26.com. We’re always here to help!