Students and pensioners have been learning about the different ways to look out for potential online and telephone scams, following a number of presentations hosted by Isle of Man Bank.

Events have taken place for lower sixth form pupils at the QE2 School in Peel, the Onchan Pensioners Club and members of the Towns Women’s Guild in Peel. The positive feedback following these sessions has led to the bank planning to host more events for the Isle of Man community.

James Tummon, the Bank’s Fraud Prevention Manager, has developed the half hour presentation in which some of the recent telephone and online frauds experienced by members of the local community are highlighted. Advice is also given on how to identify suspicious communications as well as helpful insights into how customers can protect themselves from fraud and stay safe online.

Key messaging of the event included:

• Don’t give your full PIN and password to anyone
• Never tell anyone your card reader codes or use them when logging in online
• Never click on a link to another website or call an unknown number.
• Keep your PC security up to date.

Bill Shimmins, Managing Director, Isle of Man Bank commented:

‘As a community bank it is important for us to offer our help and support to the Isle of Man community where we can. These sessions give us the opportunity to raise awareness of scams that have developed in recent times, whilst also being able to offer advice on how the public can protect themselves. To date around 150 people have attended the sessions and we are pleased the feedback has been very positive. We now plan to deliver more of these presentations, so that we can reach and support even more of the Isle of Man community.’

Any organisation that would like more information about arranging a session should contact James.Tummon@iombank.com. Further guidance on staying safe from fraud is also available from the Bank’s security centre online at www.iombank.com/security

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