Fraud and security

What is phishing and phone fraud?

Phishing is a fraud method that aims to obtain personal data or financial information by deception. Most often, scammers use e-mails, SMS messages or fake websites that look like communications from trusted organizations, banks or companies. Their goal is to obtain login details, bank account information, payment card details, PIN codes or other sensitive information.

Vishing is a type of phishing carried out over the phone. During it, scammers pretend to be representatives of banks, government institutions, law enforcement or other trusted organizations and, using social engineering, try to extract confidential information or convince the victim to perform financial transactions.

Important: neither banks nor other trusted organizations ask for passwords, PIN codes or other sensitive login details by phone or e-mail.

How to recognize phishing and phone fraud?

Always be vigilant when you are asked to provide personal or financial information by phone, email, SMS or other channels. Particular attention should be paid to messages that contain links to websites that ask for login details, payment card information or other sensitive data.

Even if at first glance it seems that you have been contacted by a reliable organization, bank or government institution, it is worth stopping and assessing whether it is a fraud attempt. If in doubt, do not disclose information and contact the organization using the officially published contacts.

How to protect yourself online?

You can protect yourself from online fraud by being vigilant and following a few basic security rules.

Atradius never sends emails without prior warning asking you to update or confirm personal data or security information. Also, Atradius does not contact customers by phone to update or verify data and never asks to reveal passwords. Login details are confidential and should not be shared with any third party.

Generic addresses such as “Dear Customer” or “Dear Customer” should be suspicious, as Atradius usually addresses customers by their first and/or last name.

It is also recommended to pay attention to security notices and warnings posted on the official Atradius website.

Always stop and assess the situation before clicking on a link or button. Cybercriminals may create emails, online ads or social media posts with links to fake websites designed to steal login details. Before logging into your account, make sure that the website is genuine and secure.

Check for the following signs:

Is the website address entered correctly? Fraudsters often use addresses that are very similar to the original, for example, atardius.com instead of atradius.com.
Does the website address start with https://? The letter "s" means that the connection is secure and the transmitted data is encrypted.
Is the lock icon visible on the login page? It should be displayed throughout the entire work in the protected part of the website.
It is equally important to take care of the security of the device you are using:

Use reliable and constantly updated antivirus and malware protection software.
Make sure that the firewall is activated.
Regularly install updates for the operating system, browser, antivirus program and other programs you use.
Do not install software from untrusted or unknown sources.
Use only secure wireless networks (Wi-Fi).
Check that browser plug-ins and other plugins are updated and downloaded from trusted sources.
Remember: if you have even the slightest suspicion about the reliability of a received letter, call or website, do not disclose your data and contact the organization through official contacts.

What to do if you suspect phishing or vishing?

Most importantly, never provide personal or financial information in response to a suspicious attempt to contact you.

Do not fill out forms or enter data into login boxes that are linked to in suspicious messages.

To report a possible phishing attempt, it is recommended to contact your contact person at Atradius. Do not use any of the Atradius contact methods listed in the suspicious email. You should also not respond to such emails or click on any links in them.

If you notice a possible vishing attempt, you should also be cautious when contacting us by phone. It is recommended to wait a few minutes before calling Atradius, as the scammer may still have the phone line open.