If your business accepts wires and/or sends outgoing wires to or on behalf of customers, beware of a scheme in which hackers can take over a legitimate email address and initiate fraudulent wire requests. Fraudsters have the ability to take over email accounts and send requests to bank employees asking for wire transfers or account information. Please be assured that we will never disclose your personal account information or initiate a wire transfer via e-mail. There are steps you can take to help protect yourself against this scheme.
Take Precaution
- Ensure your anti-virus software is up-to-date.
- Make sure your computer is free of malware.
- Whenever possible, discuss sensitive banking information via telephone or in person.
- Do not provide confidential information via email (i.e., account number, balances, Social Security number, PINs, etc.).
- Use a strong password on your email account.
Ensure that your business has procedures in place to verify any wire that is received via email or fax. For example, calling your customer directly using a phone number on file before proceeding with a wire can determine if the customer actually sent the request.
