NatWest ‘Important Review Notification’ Phishing Scam Email
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
An ‘important review notification’ purporting to be from UK bank NatWest claims that access to your account has been blocked due to a system error and you must therefore click a login button to regain access and resolve the issue.
Subject: Important Review Notification. Dear Valued Customer,To ensure your protection, Access to your accounts has now been blocked due to a system error { error code : n4t0ow3t }.To re-gain access, Proceed by clicking the “log in” button below.LOG IN HERE TO RESOLVE ISSUE.
Yours sincerely,
Managing Director of Digital
What the fact-checkers found
The email is not from NatWest and your account has not been blocked as claimed. The email is a phishing scam that attempts to trick you into sending your account login details and other personal and financial information to cybercriminals via forms on a fake website.
According to this email, which claims to be an important review notification from UK bank NatWest, access to your account has been blocked to ensure your protection. Supposedly, the account block is due to a ‘system error’ that has the error code ‘n4t0ow3t’. It asks that you click a login button to regain access to your account and resolve the supposed issue. The email includes the NatWest logo along with secondary links that open pages on the genuine NatWest website.
However, the email is not from NatWest and the claim that your account has been blocked is untrue. Instead, the email is a phishing scam designed to steal your NatWest account login details as well as your credit card numbers and other sensitive personal information.
If you click the ‘log in here’ link as instructed, you will be taken to a fraudulent website that has been designed to closely mirror the genuine NatWest website. Once on the fake site, you will be asked to enter your login credentials. Next, you will be taken to a fake form that asks for your credit card number, PIN, and CVV as well as ID information supposedly required to verify your identity. Finally, you will be automatically redirected to the real NatWest website.
Meanwhile, the criminals operating the scam can collect the information you supplied and use it to hijack your NatWest account and commit credit card fraud and identity theft.
Scam campaigns like this one are very common. Like other banks, NatWest has been targeted in many similar scams. Be very cautious of any email purporting to be from your bank that claims that you must click a link or open an attached file to resolve a supposed account problem, block, or suspension.
It is always safest to login to all of your online accounts by entering the account address into your browser’s address bar or via an official app rather than by clicking a link in an email.
The NatWest website includes information about how to report such scams should one come your way.
Got a similar message?
Paste it into the detector and see whether it matches a known hoax.
Check a similar messageRelated fact-checks
Browse the archive →NatWest ‘Inadequate Security Enrollment’ Phishing Scam
The email is not from Natwest. The message is a phishing scam designed to trick recipients into submitting their personal and financial information to cybercriminals. The link opens a fake website made to look like a genuine Natwest web page.
PayPal ‘Your Account is Temporarily Limited’ Phishing Scam
The email is not from PayPal and your account has not been limited as claimed. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your PayPal login credentials, your credit card details, and your email account password.
‘Email Deactivation Warning’ Phishing Scam
The message is not from any mail administrator and the claim that the recipient’s address is set to be deactivated is untrue. The message is an attempt by cybercriminals to trick users into handing over their email account login details.