Identity Theft & Fraud Prevention
Identity Theft
- You discover credit card charges you didn’t make
- You're unexpectedly denied for a loan or credit card
- There’s a change to your credit score
- There’s a new account you didn’t open under your name
- Your information was part of a data breach
- Debt collectors call about accounts you never opened
- You receive bills for services you never used
- Mail is addressed to your home but with another person’s name
- A tax return is filed under your name without your knowledge
- Keep your Social Security Number (SSN) secure.
- Do not share your personal information such birthdate, SSN, or bank account numbers.
- Create strong passwords that include numbers and symbols.
- Use the card control feature on your debit card to lock your card immediately if it's been lost or stolen.
- Collect your mail every day, and place a hold on your mail if you'll be away. Stolen mail is a common method for identity theft.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi networks.
- Have your name removed from credit bureau marking lists. Call toll-free 1-888-567-8688 or opt out online at optoutprescreen.com.
- Review your credit reports once a year. Check for any accounts that you don't recognize. You are allowed one free credit report every year from each of the three national credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Visit annualcreditreport.com to request your free reports.
- Freeze your credit files with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange for free. Credit freezes prevent someone from applying for and getting approval for a credit account or utility services in your name.
Report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at IdentityTheft.gov or by phone at 1-877-438-4338. You may also need to contact the local police department, the postal service and credit bureaus.
Please contact Baldwin State Bank at 785-594-6421 if you believe that you've been a victim of identity theft. We can help secure your bank account and cards.
Phishing scams
Phishing scams are a common form of online identity theft. Phishing scams are typically carried out through fraudulent emails, messages, or websites that appear to be from a legitimate source, such as a bank. Because the emails or websites look legitimate, you could be tricked into giving out personal information such as passwords or bank account numbers. Even if you don’t provide what they ask for, simply clicking a link in a phishing email or website could subject you to background installations of key logging software or viruses on your computer.
It can be difficult to distinguish if an email or website is legitimate. Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated in creating fraudulent emails and websites that look authentic. These emails and websites often appear to be from legitimate companies and include images and logos of these organizations.
Baldwin State Bank will never send out an email requesting you to provide, update or confirm sensitive data.
Scams often have a sense of urgency telling clients that if they fail to update, verify or confirm their personal or account information, access to their accounts will be suspended.
Scam emails typically ask for personal or account information such as:
- Account numbers
- Credit and check card numbers
- Social Security Numbers
- User IDs and passwords
- Mother’s maiden name
- Date of birth
- Other sensitive information
They often include links that include a legitimate company’s name or website address. The fraudulent emails will disguise or forge the sender’s email address so they appear to be from a legitimate company.
- Never provide personal or financial information to unsolicited email, phone or pop-up website requests.
- Type the website addresses (URL) into browsers instead of clicking on links in emails.
- Change User IDs and passwords every 30 days.
- Keep anti-virus and anti-spam filtering software on your computer up to date.
If you suspect that you’ve received a fraudulent email that appears to be from Baldwin State Bank, please forward it to us immediately and then delete it from your inbox.
Our e-mail address is: bsbank@baldwinstatebank.com
How BSB works to prevent fraud
At no cost to you, Baldwin State bank has added extra protection against fraud on your debit card by partnering with Falcon Fraud Scoring. Falcon Fraud Scoring uses a scoring method to monitor transactions made on your debit card.
How does it work?
Each of your debit card transactions are assigned a score on a risk-based scale; the higher the score the greater the likelihood of fraud. If the transaction is determined to be high risk, a Falcon Fraud Manager will attempt to contact you to determine whether the transaction is legitimate. If the Falcon Fraud Manager cannot make contact with you, depending on the severity of the score, a temporary block may be put on your account until we can verify the transaction with you to prevent fraudulent transactions. Both PIN based and signature based transactions are monitored 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Why do customers need to know about this program?
Cardholders will be contacted by telephone on behalf of the Baldwin State Bank when Falcon Fraud Managers detect a suspicious transaction(s) on an account. This call will be an attempt to verify that transactions were actually made by the cardholder. The Falcon Fraud Manager will verify who they are talking to by verifying the last four digits of your social security number but will never ask for any numbers off of your card itself. If we cannot reach you and the suspicious transaction is high risk; we will place a temporary block on your card until we are able to verify the transaction with you.
These calls will be made during the following hours:
- Monday through Friday 8:00 am-9:00 pm CT
- Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays 9:00 am-9:00 pm Ct
What do customers need to do to take advantage of this program?
Keep the bank informed of any changes in your contact information. To avoid having a temporary block placed on your card; we will need to be kept informed of your current contact information so that we may verify any suspicious transactions.
Will this affect me when I go on vacation or travel abroad?
Yes! Usually when you travel on vacation or go abroad it is not a part of your “normal” consumer purchasing behavior. For this reason it is strongly recommended that before going on vacation or traveling abroad you contact Baldwin State Bank customer service. Also, when you travel it is always a good idea to have a second source of payment (cash, credit card, or travelers check) available at the time of a purchase.
What can I do to help?
You are strongly encouraged to review your account activity as often as possible. This can be done by phone, online or through monthly statement. Any time you identify a suspicious or unauthorized transaction on an account you must report it immediately. This can be done by phone, in person or in writing. The quicker you report, the quicker Baldwin State Bank can act to identify and prevent any further suspicious or unauthorized activity. Always keep Baldwin State Bank informed of your personal contact information to avoid any card interruptions.
Baldwin State Bank wants to take the time to thank you for the opportunity to provide you with exceptional service. Should you have any questions about the program or need to update your contact phone numbers, please call your local branch.
MultiKey is a new online security feature that is now a standard part of your Baldwin State Bank Internet Banking login experience. As part of our ongoing commitment to help protect you against identify theft and fraud, MultiKey helps prevent unauthorized access to your accounts while reassuring you that you’re at the valid Baldwin State Bank website. MultiKey consists of four parts: User ID, three challenge questions, a personal image and an encrypted password. All four parts help protect you, whether you login to Internet Banking from one of your trusted computers or from a public computer.
Why do I need MultiKey?
MultiKey helps to ensure your information is secure by protecting you from fraud and identity theft in a couple of ways.
It helps you recognize that you’re at the valid Baldwin State Bank Internet Banking site.
You can ensure that we also recognize you as the true owner of your account because MultiKey helps us verify your identity with your chosen image. If your computer is not registered as a trusted computer, we’ll ask you one of your challenge questions as an additional line of defense against unauthorized access to your accounts.
How does MultiKey work?
MultiKey is made up of four parts: User ID, three challenge questions, a personal image and an encrypted password.
When you’re signing in from a different computer, we ask one of your challenge questions to verify your identity. When you answer correctly, a number of MultiKey images appears. If you see your image, you know it’s safe to enter your password and login. You will need to select your image and continue.
Has my password changed?
No. The MultiKey image, the three challenge questions and answers you provide are separate from your regular Internet Banking login password.
Does MultiKey use cookies?
One of the ways we recognize you is by placing a cookie on your computer when you sign up for our MultiKey service. The cookie contains a randomly generated, unique number used as an identifier. When you login after that, your Web browser sends us this cookie, which lets us know that you’re using your own computer. The cookie is visible only to the Internet Banking site at Baldwin State Bank and does not contain any personal information. You can also access Internet Banking from any number of computers and have the same MultiKey protections.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is piece of securely-coded information sent by Baldwin State Bank to your computer when you login with our MultiKey service. Cookies include a randomly generated, unique number used as a sign-in or registration identifier. Every time you log in from that same computer, your Web browser then sends us back this cookie, which is a security feature that lets us know that you’re using your own computer.
How is MultiKey more secure?
MultiKey helps you know that you are at the valid Internet Banking site at Insite Internet Banking before you enter your password. In addition, we know it’s really you signing in because we recognize your computer or we ask you a challenge question to verify your identity.
What if someone knows my password? How will MultiKey prevent them from accessing my account?
When an unauthorized person tries to login from another computer, we will recognize that they’re using a different computer, and so we’ll ask one of your challenge questions. They won’t know the answer and will not be able to login to your account.
Why do I need to set up challenge questions?
Challenge questions help prevent unauthorized people from getting access to your Internet Banking information. That way, even if they’ve stolen your User ID and password, they won’t know the answer to the secret question. And if someone signs in from a computer that we don’t recognize (for example, if you login from a public library), we’ll ask you a challenge question to verify that it’s really you.
When I enter my User ID, it asks me a question instead of showing my MultiKey image. Why?
This is to help verify that it’s really you signing in. We ask a challenge question when you’re signing in from a computer that has not been registered as a trusted computer. Your correct answer confirms that it’s really you.
How do I know I’m at the genuine Baldwin State Bank site?
The MultiKey system helps to authenticate you as well as authenticate the website. After you type the correct address directly into your Web browser, enter your User ID and your personal MultiKey image will be displayed. That’s confirmation that you’re at the legitimate website. If you do not see your personal image, do not enter your password. Since this may represent a fraudulent website, please report this immediately to us at insite@asiweb.com or (785) 594-6421.
How do you know that I’m signing in from my own computer?
When you initially login to the Baldwin State Bank website using the MultiKey service, a secure cookie is saved on your computer. When you login from the same computer again, the Web browser uses this cookie to authenticate your computer to our system. This confirms that you’re using a trusted computer. The cookie is visible only to the Baldwin State Bank Internet Banking site and does not contain any personal information. You can also access the Internet Banking site from any number of computers and have the same MultiKey enhanced security benefits.
Can I access Internet Banking from multiple computers?
Yes, you can access Internet Banking from multiple computers and have the same MultiKey enhanced security benefits. If you login from a computer that you haven’t registered as a trusted computer, you just need to answer one of your challenge questions to verify that it’s really you. Once you answer the question correctly, you will be asked if this computer should be registered as a trusted computer in the future. If you answer yes, you will not need to answer a challenge question when you use that computer in the future.
I share my computer with someone who also has an Baldwin State Bank Internet Banking account. Can both of us still login from this computer?
Yes. You can use the same computer to login to your individual Internet Banking accounts. The MultiKey service is based on the fact that each User ID is unique.
Is there a fee for using the MultiKey service?
MultiKey is free. It’s just another way Baldwin State Bank is working with you to safeguard your privacy.
How do I set up my MultiKey information?
It is quick and easy to set up and use MultiKey. You simply choose a MultiKey image and three challenge questions. You will setup your MultiKey information during your next login.
Our bank is dedicated to making information security one of our highest priorities. We utilize the latest software, hardware and other technologies to prevent unauthorized users from accessing our computer systems.
The following are some of the technologies we have implemented to ensure all transactions are secure:
- Username and Password
- Browser Encryption
- SSL
- Network Security and Monitoring
Username and Password
To access account information, you must provide a username and a password to enter the secure area of the site. Your password is not displayed when entered. If you do not provide this information, we cannot establish an online banking service for you.
Don’t let anyone else know your password. Never write it down where anyone can find it. We also recommend that you change your password every 30 days or sooner. Use letters (upper and lower case), numbers, symbols. Use a different password for different internet websites. Don’t use the same password for all of your websites that require you to login. Never access the online banking site from a computer or terminal that an untrusted individual or the general public may have access to. You should also take the standard precautions to keep your computer free from viruses.
You should always log out of the online banking site when you are finished or if you are going to be away from your computer for an extended period of time. The log out will end your session, and you will be required to enter your User ID and password before entering the online banking website again.
Browser Encryption
We require the use of a 128-bit secure browser to login to our Internet Banking website. Our Internet Banking website supports the following browsers:
If you are currently not using one of these browsers, or feel your browser does not meet the security requirements of a 128-bit secure browser, use one of these links to download and install an upgraded version.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
After you are connected with a website that is secure, you will see a padlock or key icon on your browser that shows being locked or connected. This icon will only appear after you have gone to the Login web page. The padlock or key icon may not appear locked on pages where you are not logged on and where general information is displayed about the site. However, you can be assured that any screen which displays or requests information about your account, username, password or any other sensitive information is encrypted.
Network Security and Monitoring
Firewalls are an essential part of network security. They are used to protect your internal network from external threats that can compromise data and data transmissions. We are using our firewalls to monitor all transmissions from the internet. Our firewalls create logs of network traffic that allow for centralized auditing and security monitoring. We have also setup security policies on the firewall to stop any suspected malicious activity.