Unfortunately, in today’s financial world, fraud takes many shapes and forms. Some schemes are complex; others can be detected by mere common sense. The number of unsuspecting victims grows each day. It may take years to recover from the emotional stress, financial loss, and damaged reputation of a fraud experience. As your financial partner, your bank wants to help keep you informed.
Your chance of becoming a victim can be significantly reduced if you arm yourself with knowledge. Knowledge is the key to successful fraud prevention. Take the time to educate yourself on the following type of scams. Seek to understand how they work and what you can do to prevent exposure to these crimes. Think about any vulnerability in how you handle your personal affairs today. Do you provide sensitive personal information over the phone or Internet when you did not initiate the call or throw away bank statements that include your account number? You can bet that criminals look for ways to take advantage of our trusting nature.
You are in the best position to prevent it. Bay Community Bank offers the following tips to help you prevent fraud whether it is for personal or business customers. If you have questions when dealing with suspicious activity, please do not hesitate to contact us. As partners, we can work together in seeking the appropriate strategies for your situation.
Fraudsters have been successful on defrauding people of their hard earned money – like yours. Bay Community Bank takes the necessary precautions in safeguarding your personal information. There are numerous scams that have been identified and the list grows. The following scams have are some of the most popular:
Identify Theft. The term identity theft refers to the use of a consumer’s identifying information (such as your name, social security number, date of birth, and other sensitive identifying numbers) by another person, without authorization, and with the intent of committing fraud. The theft of sensitive personal information may result in considerable harm including financial loss, to the victim as well as adversely impacting other persons or entities which accepted the fraudulent information in the process of providing a product or service to the identify thief.
How to protect yourself? Be careful about providing personal information. Only provide information to reputable companies or persons that have a need to know. Review credit card and bank statements upon receipt. Your bank would not initiate a call to you asking for your social security number, date of birth, and other sensitive identifying numbers such as a PIN or account number because it would already have your personal information within bank records. If you ever question the authenticity of a request for information, please verify the legitimacy of the request. You may also contact the Federal Trade Commissions website to learn more on Identity theft at: www.ftc.gov.
Advance Fee or Nigerian Letters. Advance fee scams occur when you receive a communication such as a letter, fax, or e-mail that requires you to pay a fee up front or in advance of receipt of any goods or services including money. A particular type of advance fee scam is commonly referred to as the Nigerian 419 advance fee scam. In this scam, a person pretends to be a Nigerian official or business-person asking ordinary individuals like you and even companies to help move millions of dollars out of Nigeria in exchange for large sums of money.
How to protect yourself? Do not respond. If you think about it, why would anyone give you so much money (a percentage of millions) to establish an account? All these fraudsters want is your money – the check and your account number that you have sent in advance. Once the check is cashed, the money is gone and difficult if not impossible to recover. If you have suffered a financial loss from a Nigerian “Advance Fee Fraud” scheme, please contact your local U.S. Secret Service Field Office. If you have not lost any money, but received a solicitation, please send the information by e-mail to spam@uce.gov. As always, if you receive a request such as this, please feel free to contact your bank representative for additional guidance.
Foreign Lotteries. The scam starts when you receive a call, an e-mail, or a letter telling you that you’ve won a large sum of money in a foreign lottery (Canada, Australia, another county) you don’t remember entering. To claim your “winnings,” you’ll have to provide your bank account number so your winnings may be deposited into your account. You’re told you’ve won a sizeable lottery and are asked to wire a few thousand dollars to a “customs agent” to cover fees and taxes. But after wiring the money, you may even be contacted again and told you must send even more money to collect your prize. Shortly thereafter, you receive a congratulatory letter in the mail along with a check for the winnings. You’re instructed to deposit/cash the check, and then wire a portion of the funds to a foreign bank account to cover taxes and fees. The catch is where you think you are keeping the remaining money as your “lottery winnings.” However, bad news arrives from your bank: the check was counterfeit and you now must repay what you have spent of the deposit. This is in addition to the money you have already lost with the wire to cover the fees.
How to protect yourself? Do not send a check or attempt to wire any money for these lotteries. Again this is an attempt to get whatever a fraudster can (wire, cashier’s check, money order, etc.) – and move on. If they get your check, they will now have your account number. According to the federal law it is illegal to play a foreign lottery via mail or telephone. Please contact your local U.S. Secret Service Field Office if you have questions about a communication about a lottery that you have just won.
Telemarketing. There are many legitimate companies that use the telephone for marketing to consumers and businesses. Unfortunately there are many consumers and business that lose millions of dollars to telemarketing fraud each year. One sure sign that something is wrong is when telemarketers ask for a fee upfront (it is also illegal). This occurs when the telemarketer promises or claims it is likely that they will get you a credit card or loan, or to “repair” your credit for a fee. Watch for the telemarketer that uses scare tactics or tries to intimidate you.
How to protect yourself? Do not give any of your personal information unless you have a very good reason to trust the caller. Know with who you are dealing. If you want to know more about a person or their business, take their name and number and check it out with your state or local consumer agency and the Better Business Bureau. You may also consider placing your number on the national “do-not-call” registry to stop most telemarketing calls. If you are not sure, just say no.
Sweepstakes. The scam starts as a notification that you have just won a sweepstakes, prize, car, boat, jewelry, etc. Upon notification, you are informed that you must first pay a fee to claim your prize. Legitimate sweepstakes do not require you to pay for handling, insurance, taxes and the like to claim your prize.
How to protect yourself? You should never pay a fee to claim your prize. No legitimate sweepstakes company will ask for your bank account information. Your social security number may be required for tax reporting purposes if you have won. Don’t provide that information unless you’re absolutely sure that you entered the contest and that you know the company operating it. Do the necessary research about the sweepstakes and company before submitting any sensitive personal information.
Phishing. The fraudster uses unsolicited e-mail (spam) to bait you into disclosing sensitive personal information such as your social security number, bank account, credit or debit card numbers, PINs (personal identification numbers and passwords. The e-mail may appear to be from a legitimate business. The request is to update or validate billing account information. There is usually a threat attached such as: “Failure to do so may terminate your relationship”. Thus, consumers submit their personal information to the imposter, who then uses your personal information to commit identity theft.
How to protect yourself? Do not click on the link in the e-mail. Do a separate search on the company cited in the e-mail. Contact them directly if you have a concern about an e-mail that you have received. Always avoid emailing personal or financial information unless you are sure of the website. One way you can do this is by looking for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar before you submit. This means it is secure for transmission. If the e-mail (spam) is fraudulent, report the suspicious email to uce@ftc.gov. If you are a victim, please file a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission’s website – www.ftc.gov.
Counterfeit Cashier’s Checks. A cashier’s check is a check drawn on a bank on its own funds and made payable to another person or business. People usually use it to facilitate the purchase of goods and services of larger dollar amounts and when the seller wants additional assurances. It has been a reliable method of payment. Unfortunately, technology has made it easier for fraudsters to use scanners and high quality printing to create a genuine-looking cashier’s check. The loss occurs when the counterfeit check is deposited and the depositor uses those funds (believing the check is good); it can be returned and charged back to the depositor’s account. The quality of counterfeits is so good, that even bankers have a hard time telling the difference.
How to protect yourself? Consider if you know the person/business giving you the check. You may contact the bank that issued the check to determine if it is authentic. They would know the safe guards for their checks and if the check number has been issued. Research the bank to be sure that you have a good phone number – do not rely on the number listed on the check. If you are not comfortable with the transaction/person/business, you may be better off not moving forward with it. You could also seek another form of payment such as a wire.
Criminals have become sophisticated and cunning in finding areas of vulnerabilities within business operations such as yours. To combat some of the recent scams we have seen with other businesses, we would like to offer you some thoughtful suggestions that will hopefully minimize the possibility of fraud destroying or interrupting your business.
Please take a few minutes to assess your current situation. Look for areas where someone can get access to your personal account information and take advantage of you and your business. If you would like to discuss this or other topics of interest, please feel free to contact your local banking representative.
Keeping your online financial and personal information secure and confidential remains one of our top priorities.
We ensure your privacy and security by offering technology and services designed by the brightest minds in the online banking industry.
Encryption: The privacy of communications between you (your browser) and our servers is ensured via encryption. Encryption scrambles messages exchanged between your browser and our online banking server.
Password Complexity: It is important to verify that only authorized persons log into online banking. This is achieved by verifying your password. When you submit your password, it is compared with the password we have stored in our secure data center. We allow you to enter your password incorrectly a limited number of times; too many incorrect passwords will result in the locking of your online banking account until you call us to reinitialize the account. We monitor and record "bad-login" attempts to detect any suspicious activity (i.e. someone trying to guess your password). You play a crucial role in preventing others from logging on to your account. Never use easy-to-guess passwords.
Examples:
Never reveal your password to another person. You should periodically change your password in the User Option section of Internet Banking.
Secure Architecture: The computers storing your actual account information are not linked directly to the Internet.
Online Banking Features that promote Security: We provide a number of additional security features in online banking to help protect you:
Timeout: This prevents curious persons from continuing your online banking session if you left your PC unattended without logging out.
You may set the timeout period in online banking's User Options screen. We recommend that you always sign off (log out) when done banking online.
Online Statements: Online statements are facsimiles of traditional financial statements packaged and delivered to you securely within Internet Banking. By eliminating your paper statement, you help stop thieves from stealing your information out of your mailbox.
Check Images: View an exact facsimile of your check transactions online to help prevent fraud.
Alerts: Check clear alerts, payment alerts, and balance alerts are financial tools we provide to help you to monitor your accounts more actively and to detect suspicious activity more easily.
Frequently used online identify theft and online security terminology.
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AntiVirus Software
A computer software program that detects and responds to viruses and worms, blocking access to infected files and performing frequent updates.
Browser
A computer software program that is used to view and interact with Internet material on the World Wide Web. Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are two of the most popular browsers.
Dumpster Diving
Thieves rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper that includes your personal information.
Encryption
A process in which data is scrambled before it is transferred so that it cannot be read by unauthorized parties.
Enhanced Security Login
Provides security at login, no matter what computer you sign in from, using additional end user authentication that helps to protect against online fraud.
Firewall
A gateway supported by hardware or software that limits access between computer networks. Firewalls can protect your home computer from hackers and your family from web sites that may contain offensive material.
Hacker
A person who tries to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Hackers are known to modify computer programs and security systems that protect home and office computers.
Keystroke Capture
A spyware program or device that records what user's type on their computer. Also referred to as Keystroke Logger.
Malware
Also known as 'malicious software', malware is designed to harm attack or take unauthorized control over a computer system. See Virus, Trojan and Worm.
Opt-In
Permission granted to a business or organization to use your email address for promotional or marketing purposes, or to rent your email address to another organization.
Opt-Out
The opposite of Opt-In- not granting permission for a business or organization to use your email address for promotional or marketing purposes, or to rent your email address to another organization.
Patch
A new software release created to update a computer software program. Updates may include security, performance, or usability enhancements.
Pharming
Pharming takes place when users type in a valid URL and you are illegally redirected to a web site that is not legitimate in order to capture personal information through the internet such as credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number and other sensitive information.
Phishing
The process of seeking to obtain personal information illegally through email or pop-up messages in order to deceive you into disclosing your credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information.
Pop-Up Ads
A form of web advertising that appears as a "pop-up" on a computer screen, they are intended to increase web traffic or capture email addresses. However, sometimes popup ads are designed with malicious intent like when they appear as a request for personal information from a financial institution.
Privacy Policy
A standard policy included on most corporate websites that explains how personal information collected about visitors to a company's site is handled.
Service Pack
A software program that updates fixes and/or enhances a software program found on your computer, typically delivered in the form of a single, installable package.
Skimming
When an unauthorized second copy of a credit or debit card is taken by an employee at a store by using a storage device that copies the details held within the card's magnetic strip.
Spam
Unsolicited bulk electronic "junk" messages sent to huge numbers of people via email, instant messaging, Usenet newsgroups, and more.
Spoofing
A form of phishing, a way for cyber criminals to send emails that looks legitimate, but is not, to falsely represent a legitimate company or organization. The false email from phishing will include a phony link to what closely resembles a legitimate website address. Once click upon, the victim is asked to provide personal information which is then forwarded to criminals.
Spyware
Loaded onto your computer unbeknownst to you, spyware is a type of program that watches what users do and forwards information to hackers over the Internet.
Trojan Horse
A malicious program that is disguised or embedded within legitimate software program that, when activated, unwittingly allows hackers to gain unauthorized access to the computer.
Virus
A self-replicating computer program, loaded on to your computer without your knowledge that spreads by making copies of itself and clogging up your computer's memory.
Worm
Similar to a computer virus, a worm attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another executable program. Able to self-propagate, worms generally harm the network and consume bandwidth.
