According to this email, which purports to be from UK telecommunications company BT, your monthly payment was recently declined.
The email asks you to click a link to provide BT with updated billing information. To make it appear authentic, the email includes the BT logo along with seemingly legitimate footer information and help links.
Despite its appearance, however, the email is not from BT. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your personal and financial information.
If you fall for the ruse and click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that has been built to look like it belongs to BT. As with the scam email, the fake site may include logos and secondary links that mirror those on the real BT website.
Once on the bogus site, you will be instructed to complete a detailed “billing update form” that asks for your name, address, and contact information, your credit card numbers, and other sensitive personal and financial details.
After submitting the form, you may see a message claiming that you have successfully updated your account.
But, now, criminals can collect the information you supplied and use it to commit credit card fraud and identity theft.
BT will not send you a generic email that demands that you click a link and provide sensitive information. The company has information about recognizing phishing attempts on its website.
BT customers are regularly targeted in such phishing scams. If you receive a suspicious email, do not click any links or open any attachments that it contains. It is always safer to log in to your online accounts by entering the address into your browser’s address bar or via a legitimate app.
A screenshot of the scam email:
Transcript of the scam email:
Subject: Please Update Your Personal Information 976553159
New BT Online Notification
Hello [….]
Your monthly payment was recently declined. The decline could be due to insufficient funds, card expired, etc.
Since you haven’t provided us new billing information yet, we thought we’d remind you to please provide us with updated billing information to avoid any billing problems with your account.
Review account information.
Thanks for choosing BT.
Graham Sutherland
CEO, Business and Public Sector