Banknotes

Last week was Identity Theft Awareness Week – a time, every year, for us to refresh our knowledge of the various ways that schemers take advantage of unsuspecting victims, and to reassess our overall level of preparedness in guarding against attacks. The following article from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – "What You Should Know About Tech Support Scams," by Lisa Schifferle – is timely, and contains plenty of useful information that can help you stay safe against scammers. 

With COVID limiting their ability to shop for holiday gifts in stores this season, many turned to an old, familiar standby: the gift card. If you're entering the New Year with a stockpile of digital credit to throw at your favorite retailers, there are a few things to keep in mind, from a security perspective. The following article from the FTC – "Gift Cards Top Scammers' Wish Lists," by Emma Fletcher – contains good information for anyone seeking to avoid becoming another fraud-related statistic.

The holidays are a time for celebration, reflection, and (this year, socially distanced) togetherness. Unfortunately, for scammers, they're also the ideal time to prey upon unsuspecting consumers. To keep you and your loved ones fraud-free this year, we're sharing the following evergreen article – "10 Things you Can Do to Avoid Fraud," from the FTC – in the hopes that it will resonate with you.

Yesterday, the country awoke to the welcome news that we may be one step closer to a potential game-changing vaccine, in the fight against the coronavirus. Getting there has required numerous clinical trials, and the fact remains that new cases continue to surge across the continent and, indeed, the world.

Each month, in this space, we strive to provide you, the customer, with some actionable tips that you can use to safeguard yourself against all types of fraud. This month, I thought it would be nice to share with you some of the recent security-related experiences that we, as a bank, have had, both to show that we are not immune to schemers' tactics, and to illustrate the lengths to which we've gone to keep your money safe and secure. I'll start with the most recent.

Given the economic turmoil that has resulted as a consequence of the coronavirus, millions of Americans, those financially secure and not, are desperate to receive good news of any kind. Knowing that, scammers have been working overtime to devise ways to illicitly separate people from their money.

Something that I've learned to be a fact in all my years in bank security: When it comes to bilking people out of their money, there is no length to which scammers will not go. The following article – "How to Tell the Difference Between a Legitimate Debt Collector and Scammers" – by Courtney-Rose Dantus of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sheds some light on an increasingly popular scheme to trick people into handing over sensitive personal information.

I’ve shared posts in this space about the financial exploitation of elders, and how it can be avoided, before. What happens, though, when that exploitation is facilitated by an institution with whom the victim has built a reputation for trust? The following article from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – “Protect Yourself from Credit Card Fraud at the Register,” by Beverly Yang – examines exactly that, and applies to not just elders, but to everyone constantly in search of the next best deal.

As your community bank, it’s our responsibility to give you as many tools as possible to help you defend yourself against those who seek to bilk you of your hard-earned money. The following article, by Linda Bell of Fox Business, lists 10 of the most common – and most effective – scams being run against consumers at the moment. Most have been around a while, in some form, and show no sign of stopping any time soon.

Every parent's primary concern is the safety and well-being of their child. In today's high-tech world, though, it can often be easier keeping kids out of physical danger than digital. The following article – by Lisa Lake, of the Federal Trade Commission – offers tips for parents on what they should tell their children, to keep them from being exploited online.