Introducing new Checkcard Fraud Risk Identification Service

Fraud Risk Identification Service (FRIS) is a service that monitors our cardholder’s transactions and generates a “Risk Score” which represents the probability that the signature debit transaction, ATM, or Pinned POS transaction could be fraudulent. The higher the score the greater the possibility of fraud. As part of this new program to protect our customer and help the bank minimize risk and possible losses, First Data’s Risk Management Department will act on the bank’s behalf and contact our customers directly for transaction verification and will place restrictions on their card when warranted, if the risk score passes the company’s thresholds.

• Customers may receive a telephone call from the "Transaction Review Department" to verify certain transactions beginning April 17, 2013
• The analyst may leave a message at the telephone number on file and will expect a return call to a toll-free number from the cardholder – only
• The analyst will NOT ask for card number, social security number, PIN number, or account information
• If no contact is made after 2 attempts, or the transactions are confirmed as fraud, a block will be placed on the card
• The fraud department is staffed 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, including holidays
• If a customer's card is blocked, they will be instructed to contact us directly for a replacement card

We believe that the protection of the customer’s account and information is our primary duty and we strive to give our customers the very best service.

Beware of Phishing Scams and Malware Campaigns

Phishing is the attempt by hackers and organized crime to steal valuable information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, etc. This is done by the perpetrators creating fake websites that look almost exactly like your vendor's website (e.g. Paypal or your bank's website). Users are typically lured to the fake website by sending an e-mail asking users to update their information. Malware is short for, "Malicious Software," which also attempts to steal your sensitive information. These programs come, among other things, in the forms of key-loggers and other tracking mechanisms.

US-CERT reminds users to remain cautious when receiving unsolicited email messages that could be part of a potential phishing scam or malware campaign.

These phishing scams and malware campaigns may include but are not limited to the following:

• electronic greeting cards that may contain malware
• requests for charitable contributions that may be phishing scams and may originate from illegitimate sources claiming to be charities
• screensavers or other forms of media that may contain malware
• credit card applications that may be phishing scams or identity theft attempts
• online shopping advertisements that may be phishing scams or identity theft attempts from bogus retailers

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to use caution when encountering these types of email messages and take the following preventative measures to protect themselves from phishing scams and malware campaigns:

• Do not follow unsolicited web links in email messages.
• Use caution when opening email attachments.
• Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
• Review the Federal Trade Commission's Charity Checklist.
• Verify charity authenticity through a trusted contact number. Trusted contact information can be found on the Better Business Bureau's National Charity Report Index.
• Also, be aware of potential counterfeit bills that may surface during the holiday season. Please take extra care in observing the currency you receive throughout this time of year.

Malicious spam campaign targets QuickBooks users

October 3, Help Net Security

Intuit-themed malicious spam campaigns appear every few months, given that the company’s tax preparation, accounting, financial management, and billing software and services are extremely popular in the United States and Canada. The latest one, spotted by GFI Software, tries to attract the users of Intuit’s QuickBooks — accounting software marketed to small business owners — with an offer of free shipping when ordering tax forms. For the recipients who click on them, the embedded links lead not to the ordering form, but to a page that shows a “Connecting to server...” message and eventually redirects them to another page hosting the Blackhole exploit kit.

Don't Be An Online Victim

How to guard against identity theft and electronic scams