Security

Background

ING provides the following general information to answer any concerns that you may have around the security of the internet, including online transactions. More specific information should be available from your bank, broker or ING representative.

ING makes every effort to provide optimal security of your data and of all transactions; for us protecting our clients is just good business. However hard we work there are risks online, and you can take some action to protect yourself. Here we provide some information to help you.

1. Latest key security issues
2. ING’s standard practices
3. Verifying websites
4. Protecting Yourself
5. Contact Information
   

Latest Key Security Issues

From time to time we will provide information on security related news items that we feel you should be aware of. These security updates will be presented on this page.

Fake job postings

A known recruiting scam, claiming to represent companies, invites people to apply for a “job” that turns out to actually be a form of money laundering. These types of employment offers are in no way associated with ING Group.

As criminals become more sophisticated, these e-mails may include your name and other personal information, making it more difficult to detect them as fraudulent.

If you receive any e-mails please don’t respond to them. If you have already responded, consider reporting the incident to the police.

Phishing

A phishing attack is an online fraud technique which involves sending official-looking email messages with return addresses, links and branding that all appear to come from legitimate banks, retailers, credit card companies, etc. Such emails typically contain a hyperlink to a spoof website and mislead account holders to enter customer names and security details on the pretence that security details must be updated or changed. Once you give them your information it can be used on legitimate sites to take your money.

It is important that you are suspicious of emails asking for your information; see more on ING’s standard email practices below.

Imitation of ING websites

ING monitors the internet to find imitation websites which are often the first step made by phishers. We then work with the appropriate international authority to get the websites closed down as quickly as possible – sometimes on the same day we find the website.

To report phishing attacks please email our global.cirt@mail.ing.nl security team

Advanced Fee Fraud

You may already have heard of ‘advanced fee fraud’, where emails offering large sums of money are sent to thousands of email addresses, but a modest ‘fee’ was required in order to cover legal fees, open an account or pay customs charges. Sometimes the money offered is as a result of a lottery for which you have never bought a ticket. Sometimes the money is held in an account overseas but the account owner cannot access it, they promise a percentage of the money in return for your help. In both cases various fees have to be paid.

Do not respond to these emails. They are part of a fraud and you will not receive any of the promised money.

We place this warning here because we are aware that the criminals carrying out these frauds do on occasion use the name of ING or an ING subsidiary as part of this scam.

ING’s standard practices

ING may communicate with clients by mail on occasion, so how can you tell which mails are from us, and which are fraudulent?

• ING will address you by name in any emails.
• ING will not embed hyperlinks in emails that take you to sites where you must enter your security information.
• ING will never ask for you to confirm your details by email
• ING will use state of the art encryption and authentication mechanisms to secure the transactions; these will vary by bank so check with your bank about the processes used.
  

If clients have any doubt about any email they have received purporting to be from ING they should contact their bank.

Verifying Websites

Clients must be sure that the site they are entering really belongs to ING, and is a secure site;If customers have any doubts about a website they should contact their bank.

Protect Yourself

Online security is the responsibility of every online user. Although ING ensures that their sites are as secure as possible, its users must also help to protect the system, by monitoring both their computer and their behaviour online. As a reminder, here is a list of some essential rules to follow:

Take care of your personal information

• Your account numbers, customer Number, PIN (password), memorable date and customer identification number are the keys to your account. Never write them down, give them to anyone else or include them in an e-mail.
  
• Destroy documents containing personal information securely, and be very cautious in posting personal details to social networking sites on the internet, as criminals can use this information to commit fraud. Remember that protecting your Customer Number, PIN, passwords and security details is your responsibility.
  

Take care of your computer

• Regularly update your operating systems and all your applications (incl. browsers) by activating automatic updates.

• Ensure that a firewall has been activated on your computer, to permanently control incoming and outgoing information flows.
• Do not open e-mail attachments from a source that seems - at first glance - reliable, but looks a little bit unusual anyway (for instance: an e-mail from your bank containing spelling mistakes). If you have doubts, contact the sender to check if the message is legitimate.
• Do not visit illegal websites. The aim of such sites is simply to infect your computer. This is especially the case for illegal download websites.

More info

• The US Federal Trade Commission provides information here on how to avoid phishing scams
• The Anti-Phishing Working Group provides statistics on phishing attacks and advice for individuals and companies.