Learn About Identity Theft Phishing Pharming Learn How to Minimize Your Risk Helpful Resources

Please click on links listed below for important news on how to keep your information secure

www.fdic.gov/consumers
www.federalreserve.gov
www.usps.com/postalinspectors
www.ftc.gov
www.consumer.gov/idtheft
ICBA Identity Theft Information

Tips to protect your personal information

• Do NOT trust unsolicited email
• Do NOT reveal personal or financial information over the internet, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This includes following links sent in email.
• Be suspicious of unsolicited email messages from individuals asking about employees, or soliciting sensitive client or confidential company information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company. Ask for a reference number and advise the caller that you will contact them at their publicly identified call center number.
• If you believe you might have revealed sensitive information about your organization, report it to the appropriate people within the organization, including security officers.
• Review antivirus software specific removal guidelines for the malware.
• Keep systems up-to-date with the latest patches and anti-virus signatures.
• Implement URL filtering.
• Employ the use of a spam filter.
• Create a security-aware culture. This requires the commitment of the executive staff, the involvement of all employees, and effective security policies and procedures for everyone tied to the organization, and a broad awareness and training program.
• Consider reporting the attack to law enforcement, or file a suspicious activity report if conditions warrant reporting.

Cashier’s Check Fraud

Cashier’s check fraud is one of the most popular crimes in the internet age. Once thought to be safe, cashier’s checks now require extra special attention. Make sure you know all the red flags of cashier’s check fraud so you can avoid expensive scams.

Safety and Cashier’s Check Fraud

It is ironic that sellers, who used to rely on the safety of these checks, now have to be more careful than ever. If you don’t know the buyer, you simply cannot assume that a cashier’s check is just as good as cash.

A Few Key Warning Signs

Never take a cashier’s check if it’s:

• For more than an item’s purchase price. Fraudsters often invent various reasons to explain why they are spending more than the purchase amount;
• From a party other than the buyer or on behalf of someone else;
• From “friends” hard on their luck; and
• From parties offering a quick, easy way to make extra money. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Detailed Cashier’s Check Fraud Examples

There are a number of sites that provide examples of how cashier’s check fraud has worked in the past. Among them:

• The FTC’s Consumer Alert on cashier’s checks and overpayment scams
• FDIC’s FRAUDAlert has some creative variations on the cashier’s check fraud
• Snopes.com’s cashier’s check scam page.

Things to Do to Discourage Fraudsters

• Request a wire transfer rather than a cashier’s check. Provide account transfer information directly to the sending bank;
• Ask your bank to send the cashier’s check for collection; rather than directly depositing the check into an account;
• Meet the buyer at the buyer’s bank to obtain payment and transfer property ownership after receiving a cashier’s check directly from the buyer’s bank;
• Be sure to obtain a cashier’s check drawn on a local bank or a bank with a local branch; and
• Keep a copy of the cashier’s check for quick reference.

The lesson is clear: Don’t believe that cashier’s checks are just as good as cash.