Phishing

Phishing is an online scam where criminals send customers fraudulent emails, phone calls and texts that appear to be from their bank. Every year, thousands of people lose hundreds to thousands of dollars to these types of scams. The content in these fraudulent scams are intended to trick you into sharing confidential information like account numbers, passwords, or PINs.

What Should You Do If You Receive a Phishing Communication?

Email or Text:

  • Relax and breath. Most of the time its safe to open the phishing text or email. Most mail apps, like Gmail, detect and block any code or malware from running when you open the email.
  • Do not click or download. Be sure NOT to click on any links or download any attachments. This is where fraudster can install their malware such as viruses, worms or spyware or direct you to their fraudulent website.
  • Do not reply. If the sender is requesting urgent response with personal information, this is a scam! Ignore any of these requests.
  • Report it. If you’ve experienced a phishing attempt, you can forward the email 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.

Phone Call:

  • Hang up right away. If you have caller ID and it displays a local area code, this doesn’t mean it’s not a phishing attempt. Fraudsters have figured out how to interpret your local area code to be misleading as a local number.
  • Don’t respond to any requests. Banks will never call you and request your personal information.