Protecting Your Identity

Recognizing these scenarios can help prevent you from being scammed

Staying alert for potential scams is essential.  Fraudsters use different methods—through texts, phone calls, emails, or even surprise visits—to target individuals.  Here are a few scenarios which could indicate you're dealing with a scam:

• Phishing scams are official-looking emails, text messages or social ads meant to trick you into giving your personal or financial information.  Because these appear to be from your bank or other known companies, they can be very effective in tricking you into sharing information.
• Imposter scammers will reach out to you, pretending to represent your financial institution, a government agency like the IRS or Medicare, or even a charitable organization.  Their goal is to trick you into sending money or sharing personal or account information.  These scams can be highly sophisticated, often appearing incredibly authentic.
• Scammers pretending to be tech experts from reputable companies try to steal your information by claiming that if you download an app or go to a website, they can fix the problem.
• Utility companies will never ask you to make last-minute payments by email or over the phone.  Callers pretending to be service providers can pressure you into sending payments to avoid having your service turned off.  The urgent tone of their voice will appear legitimate and pressure you into acting quickly.
• Urgency scammers will trick you into taking advantage of an unbelievable deal, pressuring you to act immediately.  Their tone is usually of urgency, attempting to steal your personal or financial information by convincing you to create an account, verify a passcode, or give them your passwords.  Avoid opening email attachments or clicking on embedded links from unsolicited companies or organizations.
• Scammers might also send a payment to you for something you did not sell, send an overpayment for something you are selling, or ask you to cash a check for them and then return the money to them by wire transfer or by purchasing gift cards with the funds and giving the card numbers and PIN codes to them immediately. 

Protect your identity and stay safe online by following these tips

• Don't be pressured into sharing account numbers or personal information in response to text messages, email requests, or phone calls.
• Be cautious of text messages, unsolicited email, and links directing you to another site.
• If uncertain about a phone call, never disclose details or personal information - hang up!
• Avoid granting remote access to your computer. 
• Confirm phone calls claiming to be your financial institution by calling them back using their official published phone number. 
• Keep your usernames and passwords private.  Make every effort to use unique credentials for each online account, especially your financial accounts.
• We will never ask you for passwords or one-time verification codes.
• Do not trust Caller ID; it could be spoofed to show any financial institution’s name. 

Here are a few other tips to help protect your personal information

• Avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi with laptops and mobile devices
• Do not use public computers to access your banking apps or email
• Avoid opening suspicious email or attachments from unknown sources
• Never click on embedded links found in suspicious email
• Always use strong passwords consisting of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Use unique passwords and passphrases and avoid using the same passwords for multiple logins. 
• Whenever available, use multi-factor or two-factor authentication as an additional safety measure.
• Never give personal information, account credentials or passwords, or any of your banking information to anyone you do not know.