Avoid Being a Scam Victim!

We hope you are never the victim of fraud, but unfortunately, there is always a chance that a scam will be targeted at you through email, the phone or by mail. Being knowledgeable about these scams and remaining alert are two keys to reducing your risk of loss due to identity theft or fraud. Through this segment, our goal is to inform you about common scams.

Scams to be Aware Of

Most scams are designed to steal one of two things … either your money directly or your personal information in order to get to your money indirectly. You can protect both by understanding some of methods scammers may use to steal from you.

Email Phishing

The number of email phishing attacks is increasing each year, and they are most often aimed at financial institutions and their customers. In the first quarter of this year, over 92% of all phishing attacks were targeted at the financial services business sector and its customers.

So what is Email Phishing (pronounced “fishing”)? In a phishing attack, scammers send emails which appear to be from a trusted business and contain website links requesting that you enter or verify some pieces of your personal information. Often, these emails state that the business wants to “update their information” or “your account is about to expire” or even that there has been a security breach and you need to “verify your account information” to insure its safety. However, the website links are traps that capture and steal your personal information such as Social Security number, account numbers, credit card numbers and even your passwords. The scammer is in essence “fishing” for your private information. These emails often appear to be from banks or other financial institutions; government agencies such as the FBI, FDIC, IRS; or a popular online website such as PayPal or EBay. The email may even display the company’s logo or appear to be sent from a legitimate company email address. (See some samples of phishing emails)

Please remember … neither Bank of Dickson nor its service provider will ever request your sensitive personal information through an email message. Because phishing emails can appear to be genuine and very realistic, we have made it our policy to never use email to gather this type of information. In fact, most businesses and government agencies have adopted this policy, so you should immediately be suspicious of any email request of this sort.

If you receive any suspicious emails, do not click on any link in the email and do not reply to the email. If you receive a suspicious email claiming to be from the Bank of Dickson or any of its service providers, please contact the bank immediately.

Phone Scams

Phone scams work much like phishing attacks in that a scammer is attempting to get private information from you, except via a telephone call and some very persuasive talk. A caller may tell you that he is from “the bank” and ask you to verify or divulge information about yourself or your bank accounts. These callers can be very convincing! Some will even act offended or incredulous if you question their intentions! Don’t fall for it! The fact is that you have already given us all the necessary information we need to manage and safeguard your funds.

Again, the Bank of Dickson will never call and ask you to give us back your own information. If you receive a call claiming to be from the Bank of Dickson, ask for the caller’s name and tell them you would like to call them back at the bank’s telephone number that you know is legitimate (615-446-3732).

Check Scams

The old adage of “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!” is sound logic to combat the wide array of check scams prevalent today. In fact, if you can answer “YES” to any of the following questions, then someone may be targeting a check scam at you!

Have you received a check from someone you met on-line or from someone you have been communicating with through email?
Have you received a check for payment of an item you have sold on-line? Is the check for more than the selling price of the item you sold?
Have you received a check for payment or commission of employment from a “work at home” position that was arranged over the phone or on-line?
Have you received a check that represents a loan of funds in order to pay taxes or fees to receive other funds, such as an inheritance or lottery or sweepstakes winnings?
Have you unexpectedly received a check in the mail?
Have you been asked to “wire”, “send” or “ship” funds from a check you received in the mail to a large city or another country?

What to do if you suspect fraud

If you suspect that your Bank of Dickson account has been misused or that you have been the victim of a scam, then contact us immediately. We will work with you to close any compromised accounts and reopen new, secure ones and stop the financial loss as soon as possible. The sooner a fraud is detected and action is taken, the less likely financial loss will be incurred.

Depending of the circumstances, you might consider also taking these additional steps to protect against further loss:

Place a “fraud alert” on your credit reports, and add a “victim’s statement” to your file requesting that creditors contact you before opening new accounts in your name.
Close the accounts that you know, or believe, have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Call and speak to someone in the security or fraud department. Follow up in writing sent by certified mail, return receipt requested.
File a “Miscellaneous Incidents” report at a police station where the identity theft occurred, and get a copy of the police report. It can help you deal with creditors who need proof of the crime.
File a compliant with the Federal Trade Commission. You can file a complaint online at www.ftc.gov/idtheft; call 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); or write to Identity Theft Clearinghouse, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20580.

Remember to keep records of your conversations and copies of all correspondence.

How To Protect Yourself

Never give out your information Never give out your personal information such as Social Security number, account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, passwords or other personal information to anyone unless you know who you are dealing with. Do not give this information to anyone over the phone unless you initiated the call. Do not follow links in emails you receive asking you to enter or verify any of your personal information. The Bank of Dickson will never call you and then ask for this information.

Review your statements Review your bank statements for suspicious activity. If you see transactions or accounts that you are not familiar with, contact the Bank immediately.

Review your credit report annually By federal regulation, you are entitled to receive a copy of your credit report annually at no charge from each of the three major credit bureaus. To get you free copy, visit www.annualcreditreport.com. Review your credit report for any suspicious activity or sources of credit that you have not generated. If you find activity that you are unfamiliar with, contact the creditor immediately.

Reduce paper transactions Whenever possible, use online services such as online bill pay to eliminate printed confidential information from the mail and improve tracking of payments. The Bank of Dickson makes this service available free to all its checking account owners. Research indicates more than 10% of identity theft is caused by stolen mail or trash.

Change your password frequently You should change your password frequently and use a combination of letters, numbers and special characters. Never write your passwords down. Avoid using birth dates, family names and other words which can be guessed easily. Never give your password to anyone!

Use anti-virus software on your PC regularly Install antivirus software on your PC and update it regularly with the latest virus information. Do not open emails or files from persons or companies that you do not know.

Learn how to avoid becoming a victim The greatest defense against fraud is to know how fraudsters operate and what they are looking for. For more information of how to avoid identity theft , review these tips from Federal Trade Commission on “Fighting Back Against Identity Theft”.