About scams and spoofs

Many financial institutions that do business on the Internet have become the target of fraudulent email and website scams. Every Internet user should know about these spoof (also called phishing or hoax) e-mails that appear to be from a well-known company but can put you at risk.

Even if you don't provide what they ask for, simply clicking the link could subject you to background installations of key logging software or viruses.

How to identify online fraud

It is difficult to distinguish if an email is legitimate. Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated in creating fraudulent emails and websites that look authentic. These emails and Websites often appear to be from legitimate companies and include images and logos of these organizations.

Characteristics of fraudulent emails and websites

Our bank will never send out an email requesting you to provide, update or confirm sensitive data.

Spoofs often have a sense of urgency telling clients that if they fail to update, verify or confirm their personal or account information, access to their accounts will be suspended.

Spoof emails typically ask for personal or account information such as:

• Account numbers
• Credit and check card numbers
• Social Security Numbers
• User IDs and passwords
• Mother's maiden name
• Date of birth
• Other sensitive information