Santander issues rare 'red' warning to customers who have bank accounts

The high street bank has written to bank account holders over the need to exercise caution and stay vigilant when it comes to receiving so-called One Time Passcodes, or OTPs.
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Santander has issued a rare "red" flag warning to customers. The high street bank has written to bank account holders over the need to exercise caution and stay vigilant when it comes to receiving so-called One Time Passcodes, or OTPs.

Santander wrote: "We use One Time Passcodes (OTPs) to protect your money. They're a bit like the key to your front door. You wouldn't give that to anyone else. An OTP is similar, it's the key to your account. And it shouldn't be shared with anyone. An OTP is a message sent to the mobile phone registered to your account.

"They're sent when you pay someone new, make an online card purchase or make any changes to your account digitally. Each one is unique to the transaction you're making." An OTP, or one-time password, is a unique password that's only valid for a single login session or transaction. OTPs are a common authentication method that can be used to verify a user's identity when logging into an account, network, or system.

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The bank also wentv on and said: "Criminals try and trick you to reveal OTPs. This is because they need them to carry out transactions. It's how they can get your money into their account." It urged customers to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for the "red flags".

If you receive an OTP when you're not making a transaction, it's likely to be fraud. Call your bank and don't share the code with anyone. If someone asks you to read or send an OTP, stop don't do it. It will be fraud.

Don't share an OTP with anyone, not even with Santander staff. Make sure the detail in the OTP message matches the transaction you're making. Make sure you know who you're talking to. Do this before taking any action.

If the call is from your bank, dial 159. This is a safe and secure number. It will connect you directly to your bank. If the call is from anyone else call them on a known and trusted number.