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Protecting yourself against fraud

Update for iOS users

Our ability to protect you from fraudulent links is impacted by iCloud Private Relay.

There are many ways that fraudsters can try to gain access to a customer’s account or their private information. We’re committed to supporting victims of fraud in the following ways:

  • By providing online help pages that detail different types of fraud, guidance on how customers can best protect themselves, and how to report fraud.
  • By working with law enforcement agencies to combat fraudsters and identify current trends.
  • By working with other UK networks and industry partners to combat organised crime and phishing trends.
  • Using our dedicated fraud team to manage customer concerns. We also use a sophisticated suite of systems to monitor and mitigate fraudulent activity.

BBC Scam Safe

Three is a member of Stop Scams UK and is supporting BBC Scam Safe 2024.

We believe that empowering everybody with the tools to help identify scams will help avoid the financial, and emotional, damage caused by this kind of fraud.

1. Don’t respond to any unexpected call, email or text, without checking first. 
If it’s out of the blue, check it’s for you.

  • If it’s a call, hang up, find a number you can trust, and call back on that
  • If it’s your bank, you can call back using the number on the back of your card
  • Or, if concerned, dial 159 to be connected securely to most UK banks

2. Stop and get a second opinion if you’re being forced to make a decision or if you feel rushed

  • No legitimate organisation will object to you asking a friend, family member or colleague for an opinion. Nor will it object to you saying no, or delaying your decision.

3. Report every scam.

  • Even if it didn’t work on you, reporting helps other people
  • Forward suspicious texts to 7726, and emails to report@phishing.gov.uk
  • Report fraud directly to companies involved, so they can alert other customers

For more information go to:

Learn about Three Mobile Protect. Security designed to product you, wherever 
your business takes you.

Stop! Think Fraud

Three is now an official partner of the Stop! Think Fraud national campaign.

The campaign has been developed to streamline and simplify anti-fraud messaging to help protect the British public against fraud.

The campaign aims to:

  • Educate the public on different fraud types and the tactics that might be used against them.
  • Encourage them to take a moment to Stop! Think Fraud when they come into contact with potential fraud, then taking a moment to consider and look into it, before making payments or providing personal details.
  • Empower them by giving them the tools and knowledge to recognise fraudulent behaviour and take action to stop and prevent it.

Learn more about the:

Most common types of fraud

Spam SMS

Spam messages are usually marketing messages that are sent to you without you requesting them. The people who sent these messages may be trying to access your personal information (smishing), sell you a premium rate service, or encourage you to contact them so that you can be referred to another company that will try to sell you something.

Legitimate marketing messages will usually be received from a shortcode or a company that you recognise because in the past you’ve asked to receive their messages or used a service from them.

Find out more about shortcodes.

Report the message to us by:

  • Forwarding the unwanted message free of charge to 7726.
  • Forwarding the number of the person who sent you the message free of charge to 7726.
  • If you’re worried about the spam message you’ve received, you can also report your message to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) , which will be able to help you.
  • It may not be possible for the ICO to follow up on individual complaints if you haven’t got any details about the company.

Reporting spam messages on iOS

  • Go to Messages
  • Swipe left on the message you’d like to report
  • Then swipe left to delete and tap Delete and Report Junk

Reporting spam messages on Android

  • Open the Messages app
  • Press and hold the message you want to report
  • Tap Block and then Report Spam
  • Tap Ok to confirm

Smishing

Text spam (known as SMS Phishing or Smishing for short) is something scammers use to trick you into going to a website or to call a specified number. If you respond, they’ll ask you to provide confidential details, attempt to infect your device with malware, or get you to respond to a premium rate service.

These messages can be very convincing and they might look like they’re from organisations you’ve used before.

Scammers can make Smishing look like genuine messages, but keep an eye out for some of these clues:

Smishing might make you think:

  • You’re going to be locked out of your account, or that your account has been compromised
  • You've won something or can get something for free or at a bargain price if you reply quickly

Remember: you would have to reply to one of these messages to put your device at risk, so they’ll always ask you to take an action.

They might want you to:

  • Click on a link (which might install malware on your device)
  • Enter confidential info like a password or date of birth
  • Phone a number so they can ask you for sensitive info or get you to call a premium rate number

If you think that you have been sent one of these messages don't worry – just remember:

  • Don't click on links unless you're 100% sure they're genuine
  • Think about whether the sender would contact you in this way – most companies won't ask you to confirm bank details over text message
  • Remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is

Don't respond to any suspicious messages, you can also report the message by:

  • Forwarding the message to 7726 for free so we can investigate and act.

If you're still not sure, get in touch with the organisation that seems to have sent you the message to see if it's from them.

Just make sure you don't use any of the contact details from the text – go to their website to find more info.

Three will never ask you for personal details. The links we send on our SMS comms will always contain ‘3.UK’ or ‘Three.co.uk’ in the URL. If you receive a message with a variation of these links, please report it. 
 
Find out more information about smishing.

Receiving malicious or nuisance calls

If you receive malicious or nuisance calls, the following action may be useful:

  • If the caller makes a direct threat of harm, call 999. If the threat isn’t immediate, call 101 – the non-emergency number for the police
  • Wait for the caller to speak first
  • Keep calm, don’t talk to the caller and hang up quickly
  • Don’t share any personal information

If you’re worried about receiving malicious or nuisance calls, the following action may be useful:

  • Don’t leave your name and number on your voicemail
  • Don’t reply to texts from numbers you don’t recognise

You can also report the number of the nuisance caller by:

  • Texting CALL followed by the number of the nuisance caller to 7726

For more details on how to manage nuisance calls, please visit:

Ofcom
Telephone Preference Service (TPS)

More types of fraud

Wangiri fraud (a Japanese term meaning “one and cut”) is when a fraudster calls a number and hangs up after one or two rings, which encourages you to call them back. These numbers are often based internationally, so you could receive a charge for calling them back. We're taking the necessary measures to protect and maintain security on our network. However, if you have received an unexpected call from an unknown international number, do the following:

  • Don't answer the phone
  • Don't call the number back
  • Never share any personal information

If you suspect you've received one of these calls, please contact us. When you do, please ensure you include the full number of the call received, country code, and date/time of the call received.