Scams calls, emails or texts

These are fraudulent calls, emails or texts pretending to be from companies or banks and trying to get money or personal, sensitive or financial info from you. E.g. usernames, passwords, credit card details, or even your Sky viewing card number.

They might get in touch by phone, email or text, or through a website or social media, and can often look or sound genuine. No matter how you’re contacted, you should always be wary of anything you weren’t expecting.

Fraudsters are often able to spoof or fake the calling number or sending email address, so even if it looks like it is from a company or someone you recognise, treat unsolicited or out of the blue calls, texts and emails carefully and use the advice below to look for other clues that they might not be genuine.

Watch our video for help protecting yourself from scams.

Vishing calls

Fraudulent calls, often called scam or ‘vishing’ calls, attempt to get your personal or financial details over the phone by pretending to be from an official bank or company, or even from Sky.

Some use automated dialling or are a recorded voice, asking you to press a number. Others might just be individuals.

Phishing emails

Fraudulent emails, often called scam or ‘phishing’ emails, attempt to get your personal or financial details by email by pretending to be from an official bank or company, or even from Sky.

There’s different types of phishing emails, but be careful of unsolicited or unexpected emails.

What to do if you suspect your account has been accessed without your permission

Want more information about what happens when your account has been accessed without your permission? Go to: Account Takeover for more information.

Depending on the device you're using:

Information changes to look out for include:

Smishing texts

Fraudulent text messages, often called scam or ‘smishing’ messages, attempt to get your personal or financial details, through text message by pretending to be from an official bank or company, or even from Sky.

There's different types of smishing messages, but they’ll likely be marked as Urgent or prompt you to do something immediately. Be wary of unsolicited or unexpected texts.

What to do if you get a scam call, email or text

Additional measures for protecting yourself

We work around the clock to protect you from fraudsters. Here’s just a few ways you can stay safe:

How to deal with scam calls:
- Don't give your name or number when you answer the phone.
- Never give out any personal details.
- Make sure the caller identifies themselves. If they ask "What number is this?" don't tell them but ask "What number did you dial?"If there's no reply after giving a greeting, hang up.
- Don’t follow any menu options or make any number selections during the call - just hang up.
- Use voicemail to screen incoming calls. Make sure your voicemail greeting doesn't include your number or that you're on holiday.
- Press a digit on your keypad so it sounds like you're starting a call trace and speak as if someone else is in the room.

For Sky Talk customers, if available, use 1471 to identify the caller’s phone number. Sky Mobile customers, caller ID should automatically be displayed on your device screen, unless you've chosen to disable the service on your handset.

Use Sky Talk Shield to block scam calls - Sky Talk customers on the Sky Network can get Sky Talk Shield.
- If you're receiving calls of a threatening nature, such as racially motivated threats, or threats of bodily harm or sexual assault, consider contacting the police.

Activate Sky Broadband Shield to help protect against unwanted attacks, such as viruses, phishing or malware-infected sites. It’s free for all Sky Broadband customers.
- For help setting up and managing Sky Broadband Shield read our Sky Broadband Shield explained article.
- Alternatively, Sky Broadband or Fibre customers can benefit from 12 months free McAfee Internet Security Suite for up to three PCs, or a three-month free trial if you have Sky Broadband Lite.
- Please note that McAfee Internet Security is not available to download for Mac.

Always keep your anti-virus software up to date to help protect your devices.
Text messages from us might not show as from 'Sky' but might come from another authorised source like Ingram or DPD. Always be suspicious of text messages you weren’t expecting.

If you still require further assistance, please contact us by selecting the Yes button at the bottom of the page.

Online Services

Keeping your online / app services secure

Much of your entertainment or product services are managed or accessed online; to keep these safe you can follow some of these simple guidelines:

Where Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is available, enable this to prevent unauthorised access to your services / content.
Never save your credentials. If you’re on a shared computer, don’t tick remember my password or Keep me signed in, and always sign out when you’re finished.
Make sure when creating a new password that this is made up of at least eight characters and a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Never use a password that you’ve used before.
If you notice an unplanned change or new “profile” on your service, report this to your provider in the first instance by visiting the company's website and using verified contact information.

QR codes scam

Sometimes when you’re signing up for a new app on Sky Q, Sky Glass or Sky Stream, or downloading an eSIM profile, we might ask you to scan a QR code that appears on your screen. This is so we can get you set up faster.

Most people use the QR code scanner that is part of the camera on their Apple or Android phone.

We’re currently seeing a problem where some customers, who are using third-party QR code scanner apps, are being re-directed to a fake website and having their financial details stolen.

We’d advise you to only use your phone’s camera when scanning QR codes on Sky pages. If your phone camera does not have a built-in scanner, carefully enter the URL provided next to the QR code into your phone’s browser.