Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the Federal Trade Commission for the past twelve years. Identity theft occurs when a criminal steals your personal information and uses it to access your accounts, establish credit, purchase items or borrower money in your name.
Identity thieves can steal your personal information in several ways. For example, by infecting your computer with malware or a virus through emails or websites, or by stealing bank statements, credit card statements, wallets, purses etc. Identity thieves also use scams to trick consumers in to providing their personal information. For example, work-at-home scams, weight loss scams, lotteries and sweepstakes scams, fake check scams, overpayment scams, debt relief scams, the “Nigerian” email scam and tech support scams.1
1http://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0002-common-online-scams
What we’re doing to protect you:
Online Banking Credentials.
Online account access requires a username and password.
When you access your account online, you should see an image, called a “watermark,” which you selected when you set up online banking. If your personal watermark is not displayed at sign on, stop and contact us immediately.
Out-of-Band Authentication.
If our system detects an IP address that is inconsistent with your normal usage, we will review the transaction and may call to verify that it is authorized.
Periodically, or more frequently if our system detects something suspicious like an unknown IP address, you may be prompted with security questions to confirm your identity.
Liberty Bank, N.A.’s Privacy Policy.
Our Privacy Policy is available here. It tells you what types of information will and will not be shared and with whom. Our employees are trained regularly to make sure the Privacy Policy is adhered to and that your personal and financial information is protected.
What you should do to protect yourself:
- Do not share your username and password, watermark or security question answers with anyone.
- Create “strong” passwords, i.e. complex passwords with capital and small letters, numbers and any allowed special characters.
- Install anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware on any device you use to access your account online.
- Do not access your account from free Wi-Fi hot spots, like airports or Internet cafes.
- Do not open suspicious emails or emails from unknown persons.
- Cease online banking activity if our website looks different than usual and contact us immediately.
- Never carry your Social Security card or any other card with your Social Security number on it, in your wallet.
- Monitor your accounts online frequently. If you see a charge that you did not authorize, contact the bank immediately.
- Report suspicious activity on your account immediately.
- Report lost or stolen checks or cards immediately.
- Shred any documents that contain your personal or account information.
- Review your credit report annually for free at www.annualcreditreport.com.
- Be sure you know the identity of who you are talking to on the telephone or communicating with via email before disclosing any sensitive information. Remember, we will never ask you for your online banking password.
To report an incident or if you have any questions about identity theft, privacy or fraud please contact our Deposit Services Department at 216-359-5510.
Helpful websites with more information: