Online Banking Security

Your identity is one of the most valuable things you own. One of the ways you can protect yourself against most forms of identity theft is education. Please take a few moments to review the educational information provided below to help you avoid becoming a victim.

Identity Theft Prevention

To learn about simple steps you can take to protect your identity, we invite you to view this short video on Identity Theft Prevention.

Enhanced Online Security

Shell Lake State Bank is proud to deliver the highest level of security for our Online Banking customers. An additional layer of security is being added to our log in process. This will help ensure that your information is secure, protecting you from fraud and identity theft. View the Enhanced Online Security educational video.

Account Hijacking and Identity Theft

It is the fastest growing form of identity theft, and it can have the most devastating effect on us. It is called Account Hijacking, and some 2 million people were victimized last year alone. Account hijacking occurs when a criminal obtains your personal banking information and uses it to take over your bank accounts. It can take weeks or months to discover. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. For more information, please download the Guard Against Account Hijacking(pdf) brochure.

Don’t get hooked by a “PHISHING” scam

“Phishing” is the name given to a method internet scammers use to lure unsuspecting victims to disclose financial information. Phishing, also called “brand spoofing or carding” is a high-tech scam that uses spam to deceive consumers into divulging their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords and other sensitive information. Here’s how it works. The emails pretend to be from businesses the potential victims deal with. Examples are: their internet service provider (ISP), online payment service, credit card company or financial institution. The fraudsters tell recipients that they need to “update” or “validate” their billing information to keep their accounts active and direct them to a “look-alike” Web site of the legitimate business. Further tricking consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Unknowingly, consumers submit their financial information to the scammers, not to the business. The information is then used to order goods and services and obtain credit. To avoid getting caught by one of these scams, the FTC (Federal Trade commission), the nation’s consumer protection agency, offers this advice:

If you get an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm you’re billing information, DO not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number of the Web site address you know to be genuine.
Avoid emailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission.
Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your Credit Card Company or financial institution to confirm your billing address and account balances.
Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you’ve been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft. Visit https://consumer.ftc.gov/ to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.

The Federal Trade Commission works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-383-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.