Stay safe online

Keep your social media account secure

You can control who sees your social media posts by changing your privacy settings. Making everything as private as possible can help protect you from fraudsters. You’ll need to change the settings in each app separately.

Don’t give away too much online

Don’t share information that fraudsters could use to impersonate you or access your accounts. This includes anything that might give away:

• Your address – don’t share your address or any photos that could give it away by showing your house number, street name or other unique features

• Where you are, or where you’re going to be – posting holiday photos, checking in at locations or sharing walking routes can all tell fraudsters when you’re not home. This gives them the chance to steal from you or impersonate you – like pretending you’re stranded on holiday to trick people into sending them money

• Information that could be used to reset your passwords – criminals post games and quizzes designed to get information about you. Never share or enter any details commonly used in security questions or password resets, like your pet’s name or the model of your first car.

Check QR codes before you scan them

QR codes are a type of barcode that you can scan with your phone to go to a website or app. You’ll see them in lots of places – like leaflets, restaurant tables and parking meters. Criminals have started replacing genuine codes with fraudulent ones designed to steal your personal information or install malicious software on your device.

Never scan a QR code you think might been tampered with. Instead, use your browser or app store to find what you need. You can also send a photo of the suspicious code to us at internetsecurity@barclays.com – we’ll check it and report any malicious content.

Only download apps from your app store

Don’t get apps directly from websites or social media, as you can’t check whether they’re safe or genuine.

Be wary of apps that say you need to give them access to your details, contacts, or other data before you can install them. If an app asks for access to data that’s not related to what the app is for, don’t install it.

Make sure your passwords are secure

Change your passwords regularly, and don’t use the same one for every account.

Read more about passwords