Beware of fraudsters impersonating bank employees to obtain customer debit cards, PINsBMO will never contact you via unsolicited email, text or phone call asking for your bank card, PIN or other sensitive information. BMO will never send a courier to pick up your card and PIN. Learn more.
Suspect you’ve been a victim of fraud?
Have you noticed unauthorized activity on your account? Think you may be a victim of a scam? Find out more about how you can protect yourself.
Call us or visit your local branch, and then take these steps to secure your accounts from fraud.
Have you received a suspicious email or text from BMO? Report it.
Phishing is one of the most effective ways cybercriminals attack. Don’t reply or click on any links in unsolicited or suspicious emails or texts.
To report a suspicious email: Send the email to us as an attachment and delete it from your inbox.To report a suspicious text message: Take a screenshot image of the message on your phone, email it to us as an attachment, and delete the message.
Find out more about phishing.
Suspect you've been phished? Report it and follow these next steps.
BMO Digital Banking Security Guarantee
Your security is our priority and we work in partnership with you to keep your accounts safe. We will reimburse you for any eligible unauthorized transactions provided you have kept your account details secure, and you’ve met all other key responsibilities outlined in our Electronic Banking Services Agreement.
Report a vulnerability
If you’ve discovered a potential security vulnerability, here’s how to report it to us.
FAQs
Keeping an eye on your accounts can help you spot fraud early. Remember to check your bank statements regularly for strange transactions using online banking or the mobile app. If you see anything unfamiliar, report it by giving us a call at 1-877-225-5266 or visiting your local branch.
We work hard to protect you from fraud. That's why we:
- Apply security technologies expertise to protect you 24/7, all year round.
- Secure every method of banking we offer including online, mobile, ATM and telephone banking.
- Offer additional security software from our trusted tech partners to download on to your devices.
- Frequently train our employees on the latest practices in cyber and physical security.
- Give you the security tips and resources you need to protect yourself from potential threats.
The Canadian Banking Association offers a monthly fraud prevention newsletter with their latest tips. To sign up, visit the CBA website, scroll to the bottom of the homepage, select Consumer Fraud Protection under the newsletter topic's drop-down menu and enter your email address.
To keep yourself safe while you’re away from home, it’s a good idea to limit the amount of personal data you carry with you. After all, you can only lose as much as you take with you! Ensure all personal identification, laptops, mobile phones are always secure in a safe location. Avoid using public WiFi networks for your personal banking and be sure to use strong passwords. Learn more
For extra peace of mind while you’re travelling, give us a call at 1-877-225-5266 to add travel notifications to your BMO accounts.
We’ve got some tips to help keep you safe while you’re shopping online. Here’s how to protect yourself:
- Only use sites that you know and trust: Search results can be altered to lead you to potentially harmful sites, so stick to ones you know.
- Keep your computer software up to date: Making sure you’re using the latest versions of your computer software can help you browse and buy safely.
- Don’t overshare your personal data: Give as little personal data as possible and avoid saving your card details on websites. Even major sites can be breached.
Phishing scams are common, but there are ways to spot them before it’s too late. First, it’s important to know that a legitimate company will never ask you to give sensitive information by email. They’ll also never send an unsolicited email asking you to log in to your account through a link or attachment.
Here are some common characteristics of phishing emails:
- They’re often designed to mimic the look and feel of a genuine company.
- They can be poorly written or contain spelling and grammatical errors.
- They’re often unsolicited and contain links or attachments.
- The 'reply-to' field may have an address that’s unrelated to the one in the 'from' field
If you receive a strange-looking email from and you suspect it might be a phishing scam, forward the email to phishing@bmo.com
Spyware is software that literally spies on you. It tracks your online activity without your permission. The information it gathers can be as simple as the websites you frequently visit, or as complex as everything you type on your computer: your card numbers, account numbers and passwords.
To avoid spyware, you should install reputable anti-virus scan software on your computer. Here are some tips for using anti-virus software:
- Read customer reviews of the software before downloading it.
- Never install a program unless you’re certain it’s from a reputable website or publisher.
- Always run a virus scan of the files you download before opening them (if it doesn’t happen automatically).
Your chip card uses EMV technology, which is more secure than other forms of card security. It has a small microprocessor that generates a unique one-time code for every transaction you make. An EMV card never sends the same code twice. If someone gets payment information from an EMV card, they’ll only have information that was unique to a past transaction, so it won’t be useful for future theft.
Tapping your card to make purchases is a safe process. When you tap your card to pay, the transaction is processed through the same secure networks used for all other Visa, Mastercard and Interac transactions. Your card never leaves your hand and each transaction has a unique, encrypted code that changes every time the card is used.
- We’re committed to protecting your accounts from fraud, but we need your help. There are some important steps you should take as we work together to keep your personal information safe and avoid liability:
Report a lost or stolen card as soon as you notice it’s missing.
- Choose a PIN that can’t be easily guessed if your card is lost or stolen – don't use your birthdate or address.
- Make it a habit to regularly check your transactions online or on your monthly statement and report any suspicious charges right away.
- Never give out your card number over the phone or Internet unless you know you’re dealing with a reputable company.
- Protect your PIN: don't share it with anyone and don’t write it down.
- Protect your cards like you protect your cash: never leave them unattended in your car or at work.