The goal of fraudsters is to obtain your personal information to try to gain access to your identity and money. Watch out for identity theft, malware, and social engineering activity, and imposters trying to gain access to your accounts.
Identity Theft is when fraudsters find ways to steal your personal information, like your name, address, Social Security Number (SSN), driver’s license, bank account number(s), PIN (Personal Identification Number), one-time passcode(s), online password(s), etc., typically to gain access to your money.
Malware allows criminals to use fake apps, viruses, and spyware to hack into your computer or mobile device, access your information, send you spam, and perform illegal scams.
Social Engineering occurs when imposters pretend to be your family, friends, co-workers, or anyone you trust and try to fool you into sharing your personal information. Since social engineering attacks look legitimate, they are hard to detect.
Impersonation Fraud scams often begin with a phone call, text, message, or email that appears to be from a trusted business. The criminals try to deceive and manipulate you into transferring money or divulging your personal and financial details.
Stay Safe and Avoid Scams
Emails or Texts - If you suspect that an email or text you receive is a scam:
- Take a deep breath. In most cases, it’s perfectly safe to open a scam email or text. Today’s mail apps, like Gmail, detect and block any code or malware from running when you open an email. The key is not to click links or download any attachments.
- Do not download any attachments in the message. Attachments may contain malware such as viruses, worms or spyware.
- Do not click links that appear in the message. Links in phishing messages direct you to fraudulent websites.
- Do not reply to the sender. Ignore any requests from the sender, and do not call any phone numbers provided in the message.
- Report it. Help fight scammers by reporting them. Forward suspected phishing emails to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org. If you got a phishing text message, forward it to SPAM (7726). Then, report the phishing attack to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Calls - If you receive a phone call that seems to be suspicious:
- Hang up or end the call. Be aware that area codes can be misleading. If your Caller ID displays a local area code, this does not guarantee that the caller is local.
- Do not respond to the caller’s requests. Financial institutions and legitimate companies will never call you to request your personal information. Never give personal information to the incoming caller.
- If you feel you’ve been the victim of a scam, and you did provide personal or financial information, contact your bank immediately at their publicly listed customer service number. Often, this is found on the bank's website. For North Shore Bank, call 877-672-2265 to speak with our Customer Support Team. Be sure to include any relevant details, such as whether the suspicious caller attempted to impersonate your bank and whether you provided any personal or financial information to the suspicious caller.
Protecting Your Privacy is Our Priority
At North Shore Bank, we take your financial security and confidentiality seriously, and protecting your privacy is our priority.
Know that North Shore Bank will NEVER call, email, or send texts asking you to provide, update, or verify your personal or account information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), one-time passcodes, or credit or debit card numbers.
DO NOT share personal data and NEVER share your important account details with anyone. If you receive something suspicious, DO NOT respond, DO NOT click on any links, and DO NOT open attachments, and when in doubt, hang up and call us directly at 877-672-2265. We are here to help.
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