Identity Theft
County Bank provides the following information to you to inform and assist you in understanding unusual activities that could affect your banking experience. For more information about any of the topics below, please contact your local banking office.
Identity Theft
Tips for Keeping You Safe:
Be your own detective and stop identity thieves in their tracks! As financial stewards within the communities we serve, County Bank believes in the education of our customers by helping you understand what you can do to prevent identity theft. The following examples indicate threats of fraud:
Case 1: A customer receives a call from someone claiming to be a bank employee. They ask you to call back and give them your checking account number. You call back and discover the call was bogus.
Case 2: A customer receives a call from someone claiming to be a bank officer who requests permission to charge a large sum of money to place a hold on their account in order to protect against fraud.
Case 3: Someone approaches you with a lottery ticket or other award document. They have won the lottery but need cash now to fix their car or for some other emergency. They have you withdraw the money and leave you with an invalid ticket or document.
Case 4: You receive a letter or email from someone in a foreign country (often Nigeria) asking for your account number so that you may share in a percentage of a large sum of money they want to move into the United States.
Whatever the case may be, there are people who will try to con you out of your money. We recommend:
- Be skeptical. If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
- Do not withdraw large sums of money for any offer without verifying all the facts.
- Do not offer account information unless you are certain about the organization with whom you are dealing.
- Do not give out your social security number over the telephone.
- If you are not sure about a call, contact a family member or a trusted advisor.
If you do receive a call from someone claiming to be a County Bank representative, feel free to call us back directly through our Central Services department at (877) 774-2265. Please note: a County Bank employee will not call you directly and ask for your account number. Report any suspicious transaction or conversation to your local branch office.
Tools to Prevent Identity Theft
FACT Act Will Help Fight Identity Theft
Free credit report and other provisions help consumers.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) will help reduce identity theft according to Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. For example, one provision requires the three major credit-reporting agencies to provide consumers with a free copy of their own credit report. The requirement took effect December 2004, and will phase-in over nine months from West to East. By September 2005. All parts of the country will be covered. Another provision to help prevent identity theft is the National Fraud Alert System. Consumers who reasonably suspect they have been or may be victimized by identity theft, or who are military personnel on active duty away from home, can place an alert on their credit files. The alert will put potential creditors on notice that they must proceed with caution when granting credit.
Other measures will help consumers recover their credit reputation after they have been victimized:
- Credit reporting agencies must stop reporting allegedly fraudulent account information when a consumer establishes that he or she has been the victim of identity theft.
- Creditors or businesses must provide copies of business records or fraudulent accounts or transactions related to them. This information can assist victims in proving that they are, in fact victims.
- Consumers will be allowed to report accounts affected by identity theft directly to creditors-in addition to credit reporting agencies, to prevent the spread of erroneous information.
Protect Against Email Fraud: Phishing
For additional identity theft information and tips on what to do if you believe you have become a victim of identity theft, log on to the Federal Trade Commission website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ and don’t forget to contact County Bank too!
How to Obtain a Free Credit Report:
(877) 322-8228
Bank Regulators
County Bank is regulated by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Because County Bank is a state chartered financial institution, we are also regulated by the State of California, Department of Financial Institutions located in the California Commissioner’s office in San Francisco, California.
The bank is not endorsing or guaranteeing the products, information, or recommendations provided by linked sites. The bank is not liable for any failure of products or services advertised on those sites. Each third party site may have a privacy policy different than the bank. The linked third part website may provide less security than the bank’s website.
