How to stay safe when banking online

🔎

How to spot if a banking app or website is real

Fake apps and websites can look professional and convincing. Scammers use them to steal login details or trick you into transferring money.

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✅ What you should do:

• Only download banking apps from official app stores (like the App Store if you use an Apple device, or the Google Play Store if you use an Android device).

• Go to your bank’s website by typing the address yourself, not by clicking on links in emails or texts.

• Look for a padlock 🔒 symbol next to the website address in your browser.

• Make sure the web address starts with as this shows the site is using secure encryption, which helps protect your personal and banking details from being stolen.

https://

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🚩Red flags to look out for:

• The app or website has spelling mistakes, or looks unprofessional.

• The website link looks unusual (for example, “commbank-login.co” instead of “commbank.com.au”).

• You received the link by text or email from someone you don’t know.

Tip:

If you’re unsure, call your bank using the phone number on your physical bank card — not the one from website or message.

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📩

What banks will and won’t ask you

Real banks will:

• Ask for your customer number or username.

• Use secure logins, sometimes with two-factor codes (sent as an SMS to your mobile phone or via an app).

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⚠️ Real banks will never:

• Ask for your full password or PIN over the phone, text, or email.

• Ask you to transfer money to “keep it safe”.

• Pressure you to act immediately.

Tip:

If someone contacts you claiming to be from your bank, and they ask for unusual details, hang up and call your bank directly.

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🔐

Step 1: Use strong passwords and PINs

A strong password doesn’t always have to be hard to remember. It just needs to be harder for scammers to guess.

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✅ What you should do:

• Use at least 12 characters (it’s best to use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols)

• Try using a passphrase, which is a short sentence that’s easy to remember but hard to guess, like: or

• Don’t use your birthday, pet’s name, or lots of numbers in a row (like 123456)

MyDogRuns@5pm

CoffeeTime!at6

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Some extra steps you can take to stay safe online:

• Never share your password or PIN.

• Change them if you think someone else knows them.

• Turn on two-factor authentication if your bank offers it.

Tip:

Two-factor authentication, sometimes called ‘2FA’ is like a double lock on your account. It means you need two things to log in, usually your password plus a one-time code sent to your phone or email. This makes it much harder for scammers to get into your account, even if they know your password, and it provides an extra layer of security.

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📧

Step 2: Watch out for phishing scams

“Phishing” is when scammers send fake emails or texts pretending to be your bank.

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✅ What you should do:

• Don’t click on links in emails or texts. Only log in through the bank’s app or official website

• Be cautious of urgent messages like “Your account will be locked unless you act now”

• Check the sender’s email address carefully, and make sure it matches your bank’s official email address, not one with extra numbers, random letters, or slight misspelling

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🚩Red flags to look out for:

• Poor spelling or grammar in the message

• A sense of pressure to act quickly

• Requests for personal details

Tip:

If something feels wrong, stop and check with your bank first.

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🚨

What to do if your account is compromised

If you think someone has hacked your account or tricked you into sharing details:

• Contact your bank immediately. They can put a block on your account or bank cards and help protect your money.

• Change your password straight away.

• Keep a record of what happened (screenshots, dates, times).

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⚖️

Your legal rights explained

You have rights under the law. Tap each card on the next slide to learn more.

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📝

🏦

💵

AFCA is an independent dispute resolution service. If your bank does not help, you can lodge a complaint with them. This doesn’t cost you any money. They can help resolve disputes between you and your bank.

If someone else unlawfully accessed your account, or you were tricked, and you did everything you reasonably could to protect your account (for instance, you didn’t share your password), then banks often have obligations to compensate or reverse the loss. What “reasonably could do” means can depend on exactly how the fraud happened.

Under Australian law banks are expected to protect your account data, use security measures, monitor for fraud and stop suspicious transactions. They are also bound by the , if they subscribe to it, which sets standards for how banks should behave, including security and communication.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Banking Code of Practice

You can make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

Banks must have secure systems.

If fraud wasn’t your fault, you may be able to get your money back.

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If you’ve been impacted by a scam, you can ask a lawyer a question for free on Justice Connect Answers.

Click the blue link button below to ask your question and understand your legal rights and options today.

https://answers.justiceconnect.org.au

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💡

Test your new knowledge: safe or scam?

Tap each button on the next slide to see if it’s safe or risky.

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A text saying “Your account is locked! Click this link”

An email asking for your full PIN

Logging in through your bank’s official app

Entering your password on the official website address that you typed in yourself

A call asking you to urgently transfer money to a “safe account"

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🧠

Test your new knowledge: what would you do?

Imagine that you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from your bank. They say there’s suspicious activity on your account and you must transfer your money to a new account straight away.

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🎉

Well done, you’re building strong skills!

You’ve learned how to:

• Tell if a banking app or website is not real

• Recognise what banks will and won’t ask

• Create strong passwords and avoid phishing scams

• Act quickly if your account is compromised

• Know your legal rights if something goes wrong

Every time you practice these steps, you’ll feel more confident and in control.

Finish

Click the green link button below to keep exploring more resources on digital skills and your legal rights.

https://justiceconnect.org.au/resources

That’s a safe step!

Well done.

🚩

That’s a red flag.

If this happens to you, stop and check with your bank.

That’s a safe step!

Well done.

🚩

That’s a red flag.

If this happens to you, stop and check with your bank.

🚩

That’s a red flag.

If this happens to you, stop and check with your bank.