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Scams can take a range of forms and we’ve listed some of the most common types of scams below.

Remote access scams

These scams occur when someone is targeted by phone, SMS or email by a person falsely claiming to be from a familiar company or government agency. They’ll offer a fake story and try to trick you into giving them your personal information or remote access to your device.

Investment scams

Examples of investment scams include being cold-called by someone pretending to be one of our representatives or being approached by someone via social media with a promise of guaranteed returns or low risk investments.

Phishing/SMShing

Phishing messages are popular ways for online criminals to trick or persuade you to click on a link or open an attachment. They’re generally designed to look like they come from a legitimate business and may direct you to a website that asks you to verify your personal information or even prompt you to click on a link that downloads a virus. Phishing/SMShing messages often try to create a sense of urgency by requiring you to respond as soon as possible.

Fake accounts/comments on social media

Posting on sites that attract a large number of visitors, such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, is a way for scammers to prey on many people by appearing authentic. We’ve noticed an increase in posting from people promising high returns on products such as binaries, options and BTC followed by a personal Gmail address or similar. These are not authentic comments and we’re not affiliated with the people who post these. Please report these comments to us via email/live chat and whatever you do, don’t provide any information to the email addresses listed.

Pepperstone will never:

• call, email or SMS you to ask for your account password or credit card details;
• ask you to fund your account using money wire services such as Western Union, bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency; or
• present our products as low risk or guarantee investment returns.

We’ll always prompt you to login to your secure client area if we need you to update your funding details.

Some communications are specifically designed to look genuine and may also use our logo and branding. Keep an eye out for spelling mistakes and incorrect grammar, and links or email addresses that are slightly different (e.g. support@pepperstones.com instead of support@pepperstone.com).

If you’re contacted by someone claiming to be from Pepperstone and asking for this information, or receive a suspicious communication, don’t respond to/click on anything. Please contact us directly, using the phone number/contact details from our website, as soon as possible.

• Don’t respond to/click on any suspicious communications from people or organisations that you don’t know
• Configure your email to require two-factor authentication (e.g. password plus an SMS or Device Authorisation code)
• Watch for spelling and grammar mistakes in unsolicited emails. If you receive an email containing a link, carefully read the URL by hovering your mouse over the link (without clicking on it) to check for different spellings
• Protect your computer:
  • Keep it regularly updated with anti-virus software that you’ve bought and installed yourself and run regular scans
  • Password protect your login, especially if you use browser password managers
  • Ensure your operating system and browsers are up to date and have the latest security enhancements installed
  • Remote access software is designed to share information between your computer and someone else’s - keep your banking details safe by not signing in if this software is active on your computer
  • Avoid saving your credit card details in your browser
  • Research software before you download it - quick internet searches could save you and your family a lot of grief
• Remember, protecting your mobile devices from viruses, malware and internet fraud is just as important as protecting your computer
• Consider encrypting any files containing sensitive information on your device or protecting them with additional passwords
• Always be wary of ‘investment opportunities’ that promise a high return with little risk

To check if a call is legitimate, attempt to call back the company on a number listed on its website that you have navigated to, i.e. call Pepperstone on the number listed on our website www.pepperstone.com (not a website provided by the caller), and ask whether the person who contacted you is a current employee providing real information

If you’ve clicked on a link or engaged with a scammer in some other way, you may still be able to stop the scammers before they can do any damage. We suggest you:

• Report it to your local cybercrime agency (for example the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the UK National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre, the Dubai Police eCrime service or the equivalent in your jurisdiction)
• Change your Pepperstone account password via our Secure Client Area. We also recommend that you choose a password that’s unique, not one that you use for any of your other online accounts
• Configure your Pepperstone account and other online accounts to require two-factor authentication (e.g. password plus an SMS code)
• If you’ve sent money to or shared your bank details with a scammer, contact your bank immediately
• If you’ve clicked on a link or opened an attachment at the same time as accessing your Pepperstone trading account - empty your browser cache, clear your browser history, then run a scan on your computer using anti-virus software
• Close any online accounts that you no longer use.

If you’re concerned or you’ve received a suspicious communication from Pepperstone, call us straight away on 1300 033 375.

We’ve got a number of security measures in place to protect your trading account, the most important being two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA provides a higher level of security by using the principle of something you know (your password) and something you have got (your phone with the Google Auth app, Authy or something similar that creates passcodes that are valid for very short periods of time, such as 30 seconds before they change). Using just your username and password isn’t enough, you’ll also need to provide a security token issued to you via your phone.

Behind the scenes we keep our systems up to date and protected with the latest patches and antivirus software. We constantly monitor and act on any suspicious activity on our systems. We provide security awareness training for all our staff so they don’t fall for various phishing and other scams which attempt to gain entry into our systems. We have very strictly enforced client data handling policies that protect your data.

Our Privacy Policy sets out in more detail how we handle your personal information and keep it secure. You can access our Privacy Policy here.

You can call us on 1300 033 375 or email us at support@pepperstone.com – please address your email to the Head of Compliance.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) can be used to add a layer of security to your trading account within your secure client area (SCA). It's a free function that’ll go a long way in giving you peace of mind.

To set up 2FA on your account:

1. Have your mobile or smartphone handy
2. Navigate to the upper right-hand corner of your SCA dashboard
3. Click on the My Profile icon
4. Select the TWO FACTOR AUTH tab under My Profile and follow the steps to complete the setup with your mobile device.

[Secure my account now https://secure.pepperstone.com/my-profile/two-fa]