Last updated: 8 February 2021
Phone calls can be used maliciously to facilitate theft and fraud. This type of fraud is known as ‘vishing’. Be vigilant. Thieves now have various clever ways to steal information for fraudulent purposes.
Vishing (or voice phishing) happens when a fraudster calls to 'fish' for personal information over the phone. Fraudsters will often create a sense of panic to get a quick response over the phone. Targeting organisations, they may pretend to be a senior colleague or a customer in a rush or requiring urgent assistance.
Fraudsters may also call you pretending to be from HSBC. They may try to direct you to perform actions which would enable unauthorised payments to be sent to the criminal. This could include asking for security codes.
HSBC will never request you to provide the one-time security code from your Security Device or mobile device over the phone.
We’ll also never ask you to undertake actions using your Security Device (except during the initial setup of your profile). This is not information that HSBC requires to verify any activity.
If you ever doubt the authenticity of incoming telephone calls purporting to be from HSBC, you should terminate the call immediately and contact your HSBCnet Support Centre or HSBC representative to verify whether the caller is genuine.
The yellow button on your Security Device should only be used to authenticate transactions. We will never ask you to use the yellow button when you log on to HSBCnet (unless you are activating your Security Device for the first time).
Additional information about vishing and other types of fraud is available in our Protecting your business page.
If you suspect you have been the victim of fraud, contact your HSBC representative immediately.