The bogus survey telephone operator informs the person that they are completing a customer satisfaction survey and then asks a series of questions regarding the person’s banking provider, such as:

• Who do you bank with?

• How long have you banked with them?

• Are you satisfied with the service?

The operator claims they are completing the survey on behalf of the Australian Banking Association which is the incorrect name of the organisation.

ABA Chief Executive David Bell said the organisation does not carry out customer satisfaction surveys.

“Two bank customers have now called us about this so-called ‘survey’,” he said.

“They terminated the calls after these questions because they became suspicious.

“We are concerned, however, that if the calls had continued, the customers would have been asked for personal identification details including bank account numbers, PINs and internet banking passwords and logins.

“The criminals which are running this scam could then use the information to defraud bank customers.”

Mr Bell said the organisation is warning customers that the ABA is not completing any bank satisfaction surveys and they should ignore any telephone calls, emails or text messages that suggest otherwise.

“We also remind bank customers that your bank will never ask you for PINs or confidential internet banking details,” he said.

“This information is the key to your account and should always be kept confidential.”

The ABA advises that if you receive an ‘Australian Banking Association’ survey call, just hang up.

You should then contact your bank, who will take immediate action to monitor your account if any information was divulged to the caller.

Tips to protect your financial identity:

• Don’t provide your PIN or internet banking login or password to anyone.

• Guard the following identity information carefully and only provide to trusted people and entities: date of birth, current address, driver’s licence number and passport details.

• Delete spam and scam e-mail because if the offer sounds too good to be true – it probably is.

• Keep your anti-virus and firewall software up-to-date.

• Do not respond to requests that ask you to call unknown or un-verified phone numbers.

• Be very careful about clicking on links in e-mails. Do not use links to access trusted websites. Enter the correct address for websites into the address bar of your browser.