Security Tips

The online banking service has several effective security techniques that we encourage you to implement when you use the online banking service:

Never reveal your password to anyone or leave your password anywhere that someone else can obtain and use it.
Change your password on a regular basis.
Use the "Exit" button to end each online banking session. Do not use the "Back" button to exit the site.
Change your session timeout in User Options to a time that meets your needs.
Balance your account on a regular basis. Online banking makes it easy!
Download and read this brochure that identifies how to protect yourself and what steps we take to protect you
How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft: www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/guard/
Resourceful link on establishing credit, repairing credit, identity theft, credit reports, credit scores, and financial education for teens: www.creditscore.net

How to Report Identity Theft

BankFirst Financial Services wants to offer you something we hope you never have to use. This message offers information about what to do if you become a victim of a phishing scam or identity theft.

Phishing, of course, involves the use of replicas of existing Web pages to try to deceive you into entering personal, financial or password data. BankFirst recommends that you never respond to email messages asking you to verify personal information. But accidents happen, and the following information could be useful if you've been scammed.

If you have given out your credit, debit or ATM card information:

Report the incident to the card issuer immediately
Cancel your account and open a new one
Review billing statements carefully after the incident
If the statements show unauthorized charges, send a letter to the card issuer via regular mail (keep a copy) describing each questionable charge

Credit Card Loss or Fraudulent Charges

Your maximum liability under federal law for unauthorized use of your credit card is $50 (policies vary). If the loss involves your credit card number, but not the card itself, you have no liability for unauthorized use; in general, you may only be liable for a very small amount but always check with your individual card company for their exact policy.

Your liability depends on how quickly the loss is reported. You risk unlimited loss by failing to report an unauthorized transfer within 60 days after your bank statement containing unauthorized use is mailed to you.

If you have given out your bank account information:

Report the theft to the bank as quickly as possible
Cancel your account and open a new one

If you have downloaded a virus or 'Trojan Horse':

Some phishing attacks use viruses and/or a 'Trojan Horse' to install programs called "key loggers" on your computer. These programs capture and distribute any information you type to the phisher, including credit card numbers, usernames and passwords, Social Security Numbers, etc.

If this occurs, you likely may not be aware.

To minimize this risk, you should:

Install and/or update anti-virus and personal firewall software
Update all virus definitions and run a full scan
If your system still appears compromised, fix it and then change your password again.

Check your other accounts - suspects may have accessed different accounts: eBay account, PayPal, your email ISP, online bank accounts, and other e-commerce accounts.

If you have given out your personal identification information:

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. If you have given this information to a phisher, you should do the following:

Report the theft to the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion Corporation, and do the following:

Request that they place a fraud alert and a victim's statement in your file
Request a FREE copy of your credit report to check whether any accounts were opened without your consent
Request that the agencies remove inquiries and/or fraudulent accounts stemming from the theft

Major Credit Bureaus:

Identify Theft Resources:

Notify your bank(s) and ask them to flag your account and contact you regarding any unusual activity: If bank accounts were set up without your consent, close them; If your ATM card was stolen, get a new card, account number and PIN; Contact your local police department to file a criminal report; Contact the Social Security Administration's Fraud Hotline to report the unauthorized use of your personal identification information; Notify the Department of Motor Vehicles of your identity theft; Check to see whether an unauthorized license number has been issued in your name; Notify the passport office to watch for anyone ordering a passport in your name; File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission; Ask for a free copy of "ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen in Your Good Name".

For victims of Internet fraud, IFCC provides a convenient and easy reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations.

Document the names and phone numbers of everyone you speak with regarding the incident. Follow-up your phone calls with letters. Keep copies of all correspondence.

If you see a suspicious-looking email message claiming to be from BankFirst Financial Services please let us know. We continually monitor such reports and act on them promptly.

What is Phishing?

Most likely you've seen them: email messages asking you to verify personal information over the Internet.

The scam, popularly called 'phishing,' involves the use of replicas of existing Web pages to try to deceive you into entering personal, financial or password data. Often suspects use urgency or scare tactics, such as threats to close accounts.

We will never ask you via email to verify account information. We will never use email to threaten account closure. Please know this, as one defense against phishing. Other safeguards to help protect you from phishing scams:

Be suspicious of any email messages that claims to be from us that use an urgent or scare-tactic tone.
Do not respond to email messages asking you to verify personal information.
Delete suspicious email messages without opening them. If you do open a suspicious email message, so not open any attachments or click any links.
Install and regularly update virus protection software.
Keep your computer operating system and Web browser current.

If you see a suspicious-looking email message claiming to be from BankFirst Financial Services, please let us know. We continually monitor such reports and act on them promptly. Additionally, also consider contacting the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

What is Pharming?

The scam popularly known as 'phishing' - email messages trying to deceive you into surrendering personal information over the Internet - today is well known. Competing with it more and more for headlines is a newer scam: pharming.

Phishing requires victims to voluntarily visit a criminal's website; pharming simply redirects victims to fraudulent websites without assistance. Pharming subverts a basic service of the Internet known as the 'Domain Name Service,' or 'DNS.' Each machine connected to the Internet knows the location of one or more DNS servers. This service translates a human-friendly URL name such as www.<FI Name>.org into an IP address, which is a unique number that has been assigned to each web server on the Internet.

To execute pharming, suspects first must gain access to the DNS server used by many people, such as the server of an ISP. Once accessed, the suspect will replace the IP number for the financial institution's URL with the IP number of his or her fraudulent website. When this occurs, any person using that DNS server will be redirected, silently, to the fraudulent website.

The good news is pharming requires either an unpatched software/server vulnerability to exist on the DNS server itself, or the criminal needs an insider at the ISP or financial institution to make unauthorized DNS server changes. This is rare.

Please be assured that BankFirst Financial Services manages and updates its DNS server's software to maintain a high level of security. We maintain the highest standards; our customers are protected from pharming that would result from a compromise of our DNS server.

If you are suspicious about a website, consider contacting the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

FDIC Email Scam October 26, 2009

FDIC Statement:

E-mail Claiming to Be From the FDIC – October 26, 2009.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of a fraudulent e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The subject line of the e-mail states: "check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage." The e-mail tells recipients that, "You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets." The e-mail then asks recipients to "visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage" (a fraudulent link is provided). It then instructs recipients to "download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage." This e-mail and associated Web site are fraudulent. Recipients should consider the intent of this e-mail as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to on-line banking services or to conduct identity theft. The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link in the fraudulent e-mail.