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Fraud Protection


Learn How to Protect Yourself.

 
PCB offers a variety of tips and best practices to help protect yourself from fraud, scams, and identity theft. Our team is always available to act as a resource! 

Fraud Tips

Crypto Investment Fraud

Crypto investment scams, commonly referred to as “pig butchering”, are one of the most prevalent and harmful fraud schemes of today. Criminals often befriend their victims and entice them to make crypto investments through phony apps and websites.

These financial “investments” tend to start off in small amounts. Scammers then convince their victims to deposit more and more money using cryptocurrency – ultimately leaving victims without any of the money they have invested. Many victims have lost everything.

Here are some warnings and important details to help prevent you from becoming a victim of fraud and keep your finances safe:

  • Scammers use a variety of methods to initially lure and contact victims: Victims are typically targeted through social media, random texts, and dating sites
    • Any pitch of an “investment opportunity” through one of those channels is likely Crypto investment fraud.
  • Scammers seek to deceive and forge trust: Fraudsters will build trust over weeks, months, or in some cases years if they believe it is a worthwhile pursuit.
  • Once trust is established, the topic of investing is introduced: Scammers will convince victims to deposit more and more money into investments until victims have no more money to give.
  • Investment growth is a deception: The money is typically going into an account owned by the fraudster and all funds are ultimately stolen
    • Fraudsters can make it seem like the account is growing in value through clever deception tactics
  • Taxes, fees, and the end of the scheme: Once the victim is ready to withdrawal all their earnings, they will find their account frozen and an arbitrary requirement will arise, usually in the form of paying "taxes" or "fees" to unlock their funds.

What To Do If You're A Victim?

Additional Resources and Information:

Elder Abuse Fraud Awareness

According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), financial institutions reported more than $27 billion in suspected elder financial exploitation over a recent one-year period. 
 
Elders are frequent targets of multiple types of scams including romance, tech support, sweepstakes, investment, and family/caregiver. 
 
As a community bank, we have built personal relationships with our customers and often serve as the first line of defense against elder financial fraud. Whether that means identifying abnormal account activity or educating our customers on common scams, we're committed to helping seniors maintain control over their finances. 
 
Here are some tips to help prevent elder financial abuse and fraud:
  • Safeguard financial documents - Secure checkbooks, account information, bank statements, and legal documents in a locked, secure location or safe deposit box.
  • Monitor accounts regularly - Review financial statements and credit reports frequently for signs of unauthorized or unusual transactions. 
  • Be cautious with personal information and valuables - Never share bank account numbers, PINs, or Social Security numbers with unsolicited callers, emails, or texts.
    • Elders should be cautious of unsolicited phone calls, mailings, or door to door service offers.
    • Never send any personally identifiable information to unverified people or businesses.
    • You should never send money or other items of value including gift cards to unverified people or businesses.
    • We will never call our customers and ask them to verify confidential information, such as a social security number, over the phone. 
  • Establish trusted financial caregivers - Work with your banker and attorney to assign a power of attorney or other trusted contacts to assist with financial management, if necessary.
  • Leverage your community banker’s expertise - As a Community Bank we offer fraud education, financial planning assistance, and resources to help seniors and caregivers identify and avoid scams. Contact your local office if you ever have any questions or are looking for more information.
  • Report suspected abuse immediately - Contact your bank, adult protective services, or law enforcement if you suspect financial exploitation. 

What To Do If You're A Victim?

How To Protect Your Checks

Check Fraud is one of the most common ways criminals attempt to steal your money - but a few smart habits can help stop them in their tracks. 
 
Here are some simple but effective ways to keep your checks secure and your finances safe:
  • Use a black ink pen that can't be easily erased or altered to make it harder for fraudsters to "wash" your checks.
  • Avoid leaving any empty spaces in the payee or amount lines where extra information could be added.
  • Never include personal info like your Social Security number, driver's license, or card details on your checks.
  • Use your bank's app or online banking to view copies of checks and confirm they haven't been changed. 
  • If your bank provides you images of cleared checks, double-check endorsements to be sure your check was deposited properly.
  • Consider safer options like e-checks, ACH transfers, or other electronic payments that reduce paper check risks.
  • Follow up with the person or business you wrote the check to, confirming they received it without issue.

What To Do If You're A Victim?

  • Report to your local community bank and request copies of all fraudulent checks. Your bank is your ally in helping you avoid or recover from check fraud. 
  • If mailed, provide details (How, When, Where). These details matter to help determine the point of compromise in the mail stream.
  • Provide law enforcement with copies of checks and details about Bank of First Deposit (BOFD) for all stolen/ altered and counterfeit checks 

Debit Card Fraud Protection

Ever feel like you're being watched? Watched over is more like it. PCB is "watching" your ATM and debit card transactions, day and night, with state-of-the-art intelligence technology and a team of skilled fraud experts.

In our continuing efforts to keep your accounts secure, we've improved our alert service for potential fraud.

Here's how it works:
  • When potential fraud is detected, you receive a text or email. Within each are links to click to respond if the debit card activity is fraud or not fraud.
  • If you do not respond to the text or email alert or if the service is unable to send you a text or email alert, you get an automatic phone call to confirm or deny fraud. This automatic call gives the option of speaking to a fraud analyst.
  • The fraud service may ask you to provide information to help identify you as the cardholder. You may also be asked to verify amounts and locations of recent debit/ATM card transactions.
  • Your card is immediately disabled if fraud is confirmed.
The fraud service will NEVER ask for your complete debit card number, PIN number, full social security number or account numbers. It's hard to put a price on peace-of-mind, but luckily you don't have to. This innovative service is absolutely free.

Getting Ready to go on Vacation or a Business Trip?
Call or visit your nearest PCB financial center to verify your contact information prior to traveling out of town on business or vacation. This will help us protect your accounts from fraudulent activity and will help prevent debit card blocks as you travel. Or, submit a travel notification within our Card Management feature in online and mobile banking. 

Consumer Tips on Cyber Security

  • Use unique passwords for all financial online accounts. Never share your password, account number, PIN or answers to security questions.
  • Change your passwords frequently for all financial accounts. PCB recommends changing your passwords every 60 days.
  • Do not save credit or debit card, banking account or routing numbers, or other financial information on your computer, phone or tablet. Instead, keep a list that is stored in a safe, secure place away from your computer.
  • Be careful about using a password on mobile devices. Set your devices to automatically lock after a selected period of time to ensure no one can access your smartphone, tablet or laptop.
  • Do not provide your secure financial information over the phone or internet if you are unsure of who is asking for it. Contact your bank directly by using the phone number on the back of your debit or credit card, or stop in your bank to speak with someone in person. Remember, PCB will never contact or text you asking for personal or banking information. Assume any unsolicited text request is fraudulent.
  • Be aware of the location of your mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) at all times. Only log on financial websites when you have a secure, safe and trusted Internet connection.
  • Contact PCB immediately if you think your online identity has been compromised. The sooner you alert proper authorities about suspicious activity, the sooner it can be resolved.
  • For additional information about cyber crimes in general, our staff is here to provide answers. For additional information about Cyber Security Awareness, visit Stay Safe Online's website.

Tips on Protecting Your Identity

  • Be aware of spoofing, phishing, spear fishing, vishing, caller ID spoofing, and other email security threats. Go to ‘How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams’ for more information on phishing.
  • Make sure your computers and mobile devices are fully patched. It's highly recommended you turn on the automatic installation feature for software updates.
  • Use a firewall. Use a firewall or any of the top-name internet security vendor products.
  • At home, keep your personal information in a safe place. Don't keep passwords and PINs (personal identification numbers) near your checkbook, debit or credit card.
  • Create emergency phone lists with names, account numbers, phone numbers to contact should your credit/debit cards or information be stolen or compromised.
  • Do not give out information such as a checking account number, credit card numbers, your date of birth, passwords/PINs, mother's maiden name, and especially your social security number over the phone unless to a secure source and you initiated the call.
  • When choosing a password/PIN, select one that is hard to guess.
    • Avoid the last four digits of your social security number, your mother's maiden name, birth dates, names of pets, or even the name of your hometown baseball team.
    • Use improved passwords with mixed numbers and upper and lower case letters.
    • Include special characters (like $ and @) from above the number keys in the password. Example: Mary$Lamb5.
  • Avoid using your social security number as your driver's license number or as your employer's identification number. Do not have it printed on your checks.
  • Report lost and stolen checks and credit cards immediately.
  • Always balance your checking and credit card statements each month. Report unauthorized transactions immediately.
  • Guard your ATM receipts and your ATM Personal Identification Number (PIN) so it cannot be used to access your accounts. Don't write your PIN on your ATM/Debit card.
  • Avoid using your mailbox to send outgoing mail. This guards against someone stealing your identity. Use a post office collection box or go directly to the post office to send mail.
  • Shred financial solicitations, financial documents, as well as, medical and insurance statements as the information on them can be used to steal your identity. Shredding receipts and other sensitive information can avoid identity theft by "dumpster divers".
  • If regular bills fail to reach you, call the company to find out why. Often identity thieves will change the address of a bill so that it will take you longer to figure out the scam.
  • Find ways to "opt out" of mailing lists to reduce junk mail.
  • Find ways to "opt out" of telephone solicitations such as registering your telephone numbers with the National Do Not Call Registry.
  • Have your name taken off mailing lists for pre-approved offers of credit. To do this, notify the credit bureaus at 888-5OPTOUT or (888) 567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com. Your one call is shared by multiple credit bureaus.
  • On the Internet, avoid sending personal information like your social security number, credit card numbers, address, passwords, etc. unless you are sure it is a reliable recipient and that the communication line is encrypted.
  • Visit USA.GOV for detailed information about identity theft and how to protect yourself.

Review Your Credit Report

Why do you need to review your credit report?
There are numerous reasons why!

  • To protect yourself from identity theft
  • To ensure accurate information is being reported on your credit report
  • To see what others see when they check your credit
Federal Regulations require each credit reporting agency to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, if you ask for it. For more information, contact Annual Credit Report.com or visit each credit reporting agency at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.