Australia Fraud Alert
Barclays has been made aware of scams in Australia involving offers such as the following, made to members of the general public:
- Fixed-term AUD deposits at unusually competitive rates, supported by fake marketing materials which make unauthorised use of Barclays corporate branding.
- Short term investments with an unusually competitive fixed rate of interest in bonds purported to be issued by Barclays. The fake offers reference genuine Barclays debt securities (e.g. structured notes) offered to professional investors outside Australia, but key terms have been modified by the scammers, who are posing as third-party distributors.
Barclays would like to remind the Australian public that it does not offer term deposits to retail customers, or any other retail banking or personal investment products in Australia. Barclays has no connection to any offers of this nature, including any affiliation with third party agents claiming same, or any related calls and/or emails.
Please be vigilant at all times when contacted by an unknown party with investment opportunities. Exercise extreme care in opening e-mail links or disclosing personal information.
If you receive an email, material or text that claims to be from Barclays but looks suspicious, even it contains factually correct information in part based on publicly available sources, please forward it, along with any attachments if possible, to internetsecurity@barclays.com.
Please note that Barclays will never call the general public for term deposits, bonds issued/endorsed by Barclays, or any retail banking/personal investment product. If you receive a phone call in connection with such products/offers, hang up and contact the bank using the details at the top of this page with any concerns, or to report attempts of this nature.
If you suspect you are a victim of fraud, please report scams involving a financial product to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (“ASIC”) using the online reporting tool on ASIC’s website here, to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (“ACCC”)’s National Anti-Scam Centre via link here, or to your local police.
Visit the Barclays Fraud and Scams page on how to better protect yourself from fraud and scams. The Australian Government also provides information on fraud prevention.
