Is this BT email a scam or real?

This afternoon my wife received an email allegedly from Openreach which, when opened, displayed a letter from BT, complete with logo saying “New BT Online Notification”.

It started with “Hello” and then gave her email address.

Then it said: “Your monthly payment was recently declined. The decline could be due to insufficient funds, card expired, etc.

“Since you haven’t provided us new billing information yet, we thought we’d remind you to please provide us with updated billing information to avoid any billing problems with your account. Thanks for choosing BT.” RG, SURREY

You wondered how the emailer knew your wife had an account with BT. In fact, this is a classic phishing email, sent to many people in the knowledge that it will strike a chord with a few.

There were various clues that this was not what it purported to be. One being that it was supposedly from Openreach, which does not bill your wife. BT does.

Then it mentioned a direct debit taken in the middle of the month, when yours is taken at the end.

Also, you both know there are sufficient funds in the bank account so it is unlikely such a request would have been declined.

Sometimes scam letters like this use the name of a genuine employee, which will have been acquired from paperwork or in some other way.

You had clicked through to a fake website, which was complete with BT livery. Then you found a page requesting you to enter your full particulars, such as name, address and card details along with the CVC number at the back of the card. You never pay BT by card.

You saw through it all and did not pay anything or release any details. Instead, you had an online chat with BT that confirmed your direct debit was fine and BT had not sent the email.

BT said the scam had only become operational that

day and it had taken steps to close down the site within 12 hours. The company added: “Our advice is that customers should never share their BT account number with anyone and always shred bills.

“Be wary of calls or emails you’re not expecting. Even if someone quotes your BT account number, you shouldn’t trust them with your personal information.”

Find details of scams on bt.com/scams and visit getsafeonline.org.