Never Share SMS Codes or Passwords: Financial Security Rules

Your banking application password and SMS verification codes play an important role in protecting your money. Scammers may impersonate bank employees, buyers or helpful specialists to obtain them. What matters is not who the caller claims to be, but what they ask you to do.

A one-time code may authorise more than a payment. It can also confirm an account login, password reset or linking a card to an application. Read the entire message containing the code. Do not approve an action you did not initiate, dictate the code to another person or send it in a chat. A bank employee will not ask you to disclose a secret verification code over the telephone.

A scammer may claim the code is needed to “receive money,” “cancel an incorrect transfer” or “protect your account.” End the conversation and contact your bank independently through an official channel. Pressure to act quickly and demands for secrecy may be attempts to prevent you from checking.

Use a long, unique password for each important account. Avoid names, birth dates and simple number sequences. A reputable password manager can help generate and store passwords. Enable multifactor authentication where available and secure your recovery email account as well.

Protect your phone with a screen lock and keep its operating system and applications updated. Do not share your screen or install remote-control software at a stranger’s instruction. Students and staff should follow these rules even when a code is requested under the pretext of a scholarship, salary payment or refund.

If you have disclosed a code or password, notify your bank immediately and request measures to protect your account. Change the password using a trusted device and replace it on any other accounts where it was reused. Preserve suspicious transaction records, messages and call details, and report fraud to the police. A code expiring does not reverse an action already authorised with it.