At Progressive, keeping our members safe from fraud is our priority. We’ll do all that we can to protect your personal information, your money, and your privacy, and there are some things you can do in order to protect yourself, too.
If you receive a phone call, text, email or visit to your door that doesn’t seem quite right – stop and think. It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore requests.
Different Types of Fraud
There are various types of fraud to look out for, many of which are linked to fraudsters trying to access your money by getting a hold of your personal details.
APP fraud is when someone is tricked into sending money under false pretences by bank transfer – a payment that can’t be reversed by the victim.
If you are the victim of APP fraud, we’re pleased to let you know we’re now making it easier to get your money back. From 7 October 2024, we refund money lost through APP fraud within 5 working days, if your claim is eligible under new banking rules.
Please tell us straight away if you believe that you’ve sent payment to a fraudsters account.
Fraudsters may contact you by phone, pretending to be from a legitimate company (in some cases, they may be able to impersonate the phone number of a legitimate company), and try to collect personal details from you, or get you to do something for them.
If you are suspicious about a caller, do not follow any instructions they give you, and end the phone call. If you want to call the organisation that the fraudster was posing to be from, look up the organisations phone number on a trusted source and if you can, use a different device (do not use any number that the caller gave you).
This type of fraud involves sending emails that look like they have come from genuine companies which will include a link or attachment redirecting you to a website where you will be asked to input information such as your name, date of birth, password or online banking details.
If you think you have received a phishing email, do not reply to the email, click any links or attachments, or call any telephone numbers provided. Delete the email immediately.
Progressive Building Society will never ask you disclose any of your personal information by email, nor will we pressure you into doing something urgently.
Fraudsters will try to gain access to your personal device either in person, or virtually.
Malware is designed to cause damage to your computer. Malware can get onto your computer in many ways and can affect your computer without your knowledge. It can occur through clicking a link in an email or opening an email attachment or can be downloaded onto your computer manually by an attacker (in person or virtually).
To help prevent malware infecting your devices:
Ensure your device has a firewall turned on.
- Check that a website is secure before using the site or entering any personal details. To do this, look in the address bar at the top of your screen, secure websites will have a padlock symbol and the website address will begin with https://
- Be careful using public or unsecure Wi-Fi. It’s recommended that you don’t access private information, such as your online bank account, using public Wi-Fi.
- Do not open any attachments or click on links from suspicious emails.
- Do not allow strangers to access your computer either in person or virtually.
How to protect yourself and how we help protect you
Fraudsters are experts at impersonating people, organisations, and the authorities. They are continually coming up with new ways to try and catch you out. We want to keep you up to date with things you can do to help protect yourself as well as what we are doing to help protect you.
How we communicate with you
It’s common for criminals to try and encourage you to disclose personal information about yourself. If we are communicating with you via phone, email, in person, or online, we may ask some security questions to help us confirm your identity, however we will never ask you to:
- Disclose security details, such as passwords or One Time Codes
- Log directly into our online service via a link in an email, text, or social media message
- Transfer your money to a safe account
- Update your details directly from a link in an email or text
Our online services
When using our online services, we ensure that our systems have the latest security features in place, including Two-factor Authentication. To make sure it’s really you logging into your online service with Progressive, we log you in using two steps (two-factor authentication).
When you register for our online service, we will provide you with two options of two-factor authentication. Either receiving a WhatsApp message with a 6-digit security code each time you log in, or using an Authenticator App on your smart phone. You’ll need to use two-factor authentication each time you log in.
Practice Good Security
Ensure your antivirus is working, the subscription is current and that it is kept up to date. The Windows Security app will tell you if your antivirus is working correctly. The built-in version of Antivirus in Windows 10 and 11 is good enough if it is up to date.
Windows 7 was discontinued in January 2020 and Windows 8.1 was discontinued in January 2023, making both no longer safe to use online. Windows 10 and 11 are the only supported versions. If you have a genuine license and suitable hardware you can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
Internet explorer was retired in June 2022. To access our services please use a modern, alternative web browser such as Edge, Chrome or Firefox. If you choose Chrome or Firefox, ensure you install updates when prompted.
If your web browser is misbehaving e.g. popping up unexpected windows or opening the wrong web pages then do not use it to log into the society web sites (or any other banking services).
It’s important that you install latest system software for your mobile device and ensure that all apps are kept up to date. Google Chrome and Apple Safari are updated regularly to fix security holes so it's important to apply these updates when they become available.
If you use an Android device, please consider using antivirus software and apps should only be installed using the Google Play store.
You can help protect yourself from email scams by being aware of what signs to look out for. Be wary of an email that shows any of the following:
- The sender’s email address doesn’t look right, or doesn’t match the organisation’s website address
- The email contains poor grammar or spelling mistakes
- The email contains generic information, E.g. “Dear customer”
- The email asks for you for personal information
- The email advises that something is wrong and requests urgent action to fix it
- You were not expecting the email
- The email contains a prominent website link
Stop and think
Be on your guard for anything that happens out of the blue, doesn’t seem right, or appears too good to be true. If this happens, don’t let yourself be rushed or pressured into making a decision or sharing personal details.
Never divulge your online banking details to anyone, even a member of staff from Progressive.
Remember, Progressive Building Society will never contact you by email or telephone to ask you for confirmation of these details. If a bank or building Society calls you unexpectedly, you can use the Financial Conduct Authority Warning List to check that the firm you are dealing with is genuine.
What to do if you are a victim of fraud
If you think you have been the victim of a scam or fraud, please contact your building society or bank as soon as you can. You can contact Progressive Building Society on 0800 023 4567.