Fraud occurs when criminals obtain your personal information to access bank accounts, make purchases or use your identity for their own purposes.
Fraud Prevention
We keep your money and personal information safe.
We protect you by:
- Using secure communications. Our systems use the strongest encryption available.
- Operating in a secure environment. Our firewall protects your personal information from unauthorized access.
- Isolating you user ID’s and passwords. They can never be accessed or downloaded by anyone on the internet.
- Securing your password. You are the only one who knows your password. Not even bank employees have access to your password.
Additional Information
Now more than ever protecting yourself from fraud is important. We’ve compiled some useful information about how to protect yourself against falling victim to fraudsters and scammers.
- When inserting your card into the card reader it jiggles, remove your card and use a different ATM/location
- Shield the keypad from any onlookers when entering your PIN
- Be aware of odd looking equipment on or near an ATM, if you see something out of the ordinary use a different ATM.
- Do not write your PIN on your card
- Do not keep your PIN written down in your wallet
- Never let someone else use your login, password, or PIN
- Sign up for CardValet – Our secure method of tracking your debit card activity
- Draw a line through blank spaces on a sales receipt so the total cannot be changed
- Do not sign blank sales receipts
- Utilize Verified by Visa
- Do not carry cards that you do not use regularly
- Sign your card or print “Ask for Photo ID”
- If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is
- Do not fall victim to “free money” or “gift cards”
- Beware of ads that state you will receive large sums of money for minimal work
- Monitor your monthly bank/credit card statements for suspicious activity
- Notify the Bank of any changes to mailing/physical address, phone numbers, email etc.
- Notify the Bank regarding any major life changes so we can update your accounts and personal information
- If you suspect fraud, close the existing account, debit card or credit card and re-open
Phishing Scams
Internet scammers have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go “phishing.” Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing your personal information. Phishers send an email or pop-up message that appears to be from a business or organization with which you deal. The message usually states that you need to “update” or “validate” your account information and looks just like the legitimate website of the business, but it isn’t. The scam is designed to trick you into revealing your personal information so that they can steal your identity.
If you receive an email or pop-up message that asks for personal information, do not click on any links in the message and do not reply to the message.
- Ask yourself – Do I really know who this person is? Does this person/entity have a need to know the information? Does this person have the proper authorization?
- Do not email personal or financial information – email is NOT a secure method of transmitting personal information.
- Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive.
Save a tree!
Switch from paper statements to E-Statements. Having less paper with personal information sitting around reduces your risk of falling victim to fraud. Our free E-Statements will:
Eliminate your risk of fraud from stolen mail
Provide the same information as paper statements
Plus, you save a tree (or two!)
Keep your computer safe!
- Make sure you install anti-virus, anti-malware and anti-spam software
- Install a firewall and make sure it’s kept on
- Use a strong password and change it often
- Getting a new computer? Destroy your old computer’s hard drive before getting rid of it
- Keep your system up to date
- Always change default passwords and network names
To report fraud, please do the following:
- Contact us immediately at [email protected] or call us at 239-472-6100
- You may also need to file a report with the local police
- Contact the major credit bureaus and ask that a fraud alert be placed on your account. They are required to provide victims of identity theft with a free copy of your credit report.
- Equifax – 1-800-525-6285 at equifax.com
- Experian – 1-888-397-3742 at www.experian.com
- TransUnion – 1-800-680-7289 at www.transunion.com
FDIC Resources
The FDIC has published resources to help avoid fraud and protect against cyber threats when banking online or on a mobile device.