Scammers are using Bank of Valletta’s customer care number to call customers and ask for personal details, according to a bank spokesperson.

The issue was first raised by a BOV customer in a Facebook post that was widely shared on Wednesday evening.

The post outlined how the customer received a call from the bank’s customer care number, informing him of suspicious transactions taking place on his account.

Describing the scammer’s tone as “polite”, the customer said that he became suspicious of the call when he asked to speak to a Maltese-speaking bank representative and was told that this was not possible.

“All they need (for the scam to be successful) is to find some Maltese people to work with them”, the post concludes.

The original post was shared almost four thousand times, with several popular Facebook groups warning their followers about the scam.

BOV never asks for sensitive information over phone

In a statement, Bank of Valletta urged customers to be vigilant, warning that scammers are using the bank’s telephone number (2131 2020) to “disguise fraudulent communication as coming from a trusted source”.

“This is designed to trick them into taking 'action' by giving out sensitive financial information such as bank account numbers, passwords, card details, or authorising financial transactions”, the bank warned.

In its statement, BOV urged customers to bear the following in mind when receiving communication from the bank:

• BOV representatives will never ask for account or card numbers in full
• They will never ask for CVV details (the three digits at the back of the card), card PINS, internet or mobile banking passwords, or other passwords or authentication codes.
• They will not ask customers for information that will lead them to carry out any financial transaction over the phone.

The bank also urged customers to never give out any sensitive information over the phone or through any link received via SMS and to contact the bank’s customer care themselves if in doubt.

It is not uncommon for banks to have their phone numbers cloned by scammers and used maliciously.

In February, several people reported receiving an SMS from what appeared to be a genuine BOV number asking them to authenticate their device through what later turned out to be a fraudulent website.

HSBC customers were also previously targeted through similar scams involving fake messages claiming to originate from the bank.