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Internet Fraud called "Phishing" has been prevalent
lately. It occurs when a phony website sends an
Email and claims to be sent from a legitimate
business, but requests sensitive personal and/or
account information such as social security numbers,
passwords, PINs or account numbers. The fraudulent
technique may also include the use of seemingly
legitimate bank logos or web links. Alliance Bank
takes great measures to protect your personal
and private account information. Any electronic
communication from Alliance Bank only occurs after
you have signed in with your Alliance Online I.D.
and Password.
You should NEVER receive Emails from Alliance
Bank asking for personal identification numbers
(PINs), social security numbers, loan or deposit
account numbers or any other personal, private
account information. If you do, please DO NOT
respond and never click a link that is enclosed
within an unsolicited Email. Instead we ask that
you notify Alliance Bank by using the "Contact
Us" tab on the Alliance Online account screen
of our Internet banking program or by phone toll
free at 1-877-903-2265. It is always safer for
you to type the web address yourself from scratch.
Here are a few prevention tips to avoid being
"hooked" by a Phishing Scam:
- Be extremely suspicious of any Email with
urgent requests for personal financial information.
- Don't fill out forms in Email messages that
ask for financial information.
- Don't use the links in an Email to get to
any Web page if you suspect the message might
not be authentic. Instead, call the bank or
log on to the web site directly by typing the
Web address in your browser.
- Beware of Email attachments. Don't open them
or download any files, regardless of who sent
them.
- Check your bank statements online on a regular
basis. Make sure the transactions are legitimate.
- Use anti-virus and firewall software and keep
it up to date.
- Keep your computer's operating system up to
date and download any security patches. These
are free software patches for your operating
system and close any holes that hackers or phishers
could exploit. Microsoft patches are available
at www.microsoft.com/security/
- rt the attacks by forwarding the phishing
Email to the following address: spam@uce.gov
and reportphishing@antiphishing.org.
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