Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
Identity theft occurs when someone uses personal identifying information, like a name or Social Security number without permission to commit fraud or other crimes, such as opening new accounts, taking out credit, and/or purchasing goods or services in the victim’s name. Identity theft is a crime that can have substantial financial and emotional consequences. Take precautions with personal information; and if you become a victim, act immediately to minimize the damage.
Ways Identity Theft can Occur:
- Dumpster Diving. Fraudsters rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with personal information on it.
- Phishing. Fraudsters may pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get victims to reveal their personal information.
- Stealing. Fraudsters steal wallets and purses; stolen documents, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information.
- Pretexting. The use of false pretenses to obtain your personal information by posing as financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources.
What Can I do to Protect Myself?
- Protect your social security number- Don’t carry social security numbers in wallets or write them on a check.
- Treat your mail carefully- always shred charge receipts, copies of credit applications, and personal documentation.
- Select passwords carefully- place passwords on credit cards, bank accounts, and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information.
- Verify sources before sharing information- Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the internet unless you initiated the contact and have verified who you are communicating with.
Ways to Protect Your Online Security:
- Anti-Virus Software: Anti-virus software programs have been created to help protect your system from unwanted attacks. Your protection against these virus attacks is dependent on maintaining your updates and using precaution when opening e-mail attachments. Should you receive a suspicious e-mail, it is best to delete the email immediately and run a virus check.
- Firewalls: Firewalls are the first line of defense in protecting your private information. They are used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing your private computer while it is connected to the Internet. The firewall can be set up to filter all traffic entering or leaving through the firewall.
- System Updates: Keep your computer “healthy” by properly maintaining your system. Computer manufacturers offer auto-updates or reminders that notify you when a new update is available. By regularly maintaining your operating system, your computer will be at less risk for an attack.
Protecting Children’s Privacy Online
We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 without parental consent. For more information about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (www.coppa.org), visit the Federal Trade Commission website.
Personal Intrusion Detection and Prevention
Personal computer security is very important when it comes to preventing fraud and Century Bank recommends a current anti-spyware and anti-virus software that detects and removes viruses and spyware, which can steal vital information. Additionally, a firewall prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to a computer, or monitoring transfers of information to and from the computer. Computer Operating System and software security updates should be installed as soon as possible. Routine Patches are usually released monthly but sometimes sooner if critical. Patch Tuesday is a name used to refer to the second Tuesday of each month, when Microsoft releases fixes for known bugs in the Windows operating system and its related applications.
Cookies
Cookies are pieces of information stored directly on your computer’s hard drive. Century Bank uses these to recognize returning users. Additionally, cookies and other technologies provide us the capability to monitor the use of our website so we can continually improve the design and functionality to better serve you. Cookies we use do not contain or capture unencrypted personal information. If you choose not to accept cookies from our site and do not wish to maintain that information on your personal computer, please delete your cookies. To do this, you will need to follow your browser’s instructions for disabling or deleting cookies.
Security Controls in use by Century Bank
Century Bank maintains a sophisticated network that is protected and monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 365 days a year. Additionally, there are many other safeguards in place to protect your personal information such as firewalls and screening routers.
Links to third-party sites are provided for your convenience on our website. Such sites are not within our control and may not follow the same privacy, security or accessibility standards as ours. Century Bank neither endorses nor guarantees offerings of the third party providers, nor is Century Bank responsible for the security, content, or availability of third-party sites, their partners, or advertisers.
Distributed Denial of Service
A DDoS attack (better known as a Distributed Denial of Service attack) is a type of web attack that seeks to disrupt the normal function of the targeted business. In recent months, many financial institutions of all sizes have faced online attacks meant to delay or prevent customers from accessing bank websites and related services such as online banking. In these types of attacks an institution’s website is flooded with millions of requests for information at once in an effort to create a “traffic jam” that temporarily disrupts customers’ online access. During one of these attacks, you may experience a slower-than-normal connection to Century Bank, or find that these services are temporarily unavailable. However, these attacks do not affect the security of our banking systems, and your accounts and personal information remain safe. We are constantly on alert for such attacks and have recently upgraded to stronger and more thorough measures to identify and block them.