Every day, thousands of people fall victim to fraudulent emails, texts and calls from scammers pretending to be their bank. Keep your accounts safe with these tips below.
Since 1917, Solvay Bank has been committed to ensuring the highest level of financial security to customers. Your money is safe, and you can continue to bank with confidence. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures your money up to $250,000 in the event an insured bank fails. Solvay Bank adheres to federal and state information security and cybersecurity regulations.
If you receive an email, text, or phone call asking for confidential information, it’s a definite red flag. It’s better to be safe than sorry. End the call, delete the text, and trash the email, because banks never ask that! You may be asked to verify confidential information if you call your bank, but never the other way around. If you receive an incoming call from someone claiming to be your bank, the safest thing you can do is hang up and call Solvay Bank at (315) 484-2201.
- Do not download any attachments in the message. Attachments may contain malware such as viruses, worms or spyware.
- Do not click links that appear in the message. Links in phishing messages direct you to fraudulent websites.
- Do not reply to the sender. Ignore any requests from the sender and do not call any phone numbers provided in the message.
- If you receive a phone call that seems to be a phishing attempt hang up or end the call. Be aware that area codes can be misleading. If your Caller ID displays a local area code, this does not guarantee that the caller is local.
- Do not respond to the caller’s requests. Financial institutions and legitimate companies will never call you to request your personal information. Never give personal information to the incoming caller.
Oftentimes, the caller is looking for a lonely, vulnerable, or naïve person. They may even be nice and helpful. Or they could be threatening and mean. There are many varieties of these types of scams, including:
- Impersonating the Social Security Administration or the IRS
- Debt relief and credit repair
- Business coaching
- Investment opportunities
- “Free” trials that then bill monthly
- Prize and lottery
- Do not answer calls from fake caller IDS, hang up, and consider call blocking.
Phishing by text: Scammers are purchasing lists of mobile numbers. Many suggest there is a payment due, or they’ll thank you for your payment and ask to you complete a survey. They’ll use this information to install malicious coding on mobile devices by using credentials to obtain authorization codes to access account information on your device.
- Do not click on any links in your text messages, or email.
- If you think it’s a valid link, first contact Solvay Bank.
Source: PCBB
- Set up multi-factor authentication on your bank and email login.
- Use random or complex passwords.
- Call your bank directly, or log in to your account, to verify messages or emails received.
- Keep your browser up-to-date with the latest defenses, like virus protection and malware alerts
Mobile Payments such as Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay® and Google Pay®, are one of the safest methods of payments with retailers in stores and online. Your card information is transmitted using tokenization, which replaces sensitive data with a secure alternative and is useless to hackers if intercepted.
Available to all Solvay Bank Online and Mobile Banking users, Notifi Real-Time Alerts notify customers when something important happens in their account. Customers can receive account activity notifications via email, text, online banking, and with push notifications through the Solvay Bank Mobile Banking App.
- *Text and data rates may apply from your service provider.
Fraud Alerts
Credit Card customers can receive Fraud Alerts which includes a text message when a potentially fraudulent charge is detected. Debit Card customers may also receive an email notification.
Consumer and Business Debit Card Alerts
Debit Card customers can receive Fraud Alerts which includes a text message when a potentially fraudulent charge is detected. Debit Card customers may also receive an email notification.
CardValet for Businesses
Help protect personal or business Solvay Bank Debit cards at no cost with the proactive fraud prevention features of CardValet®. Set some boundaries to where, when, and how your debit cards are used. Learn More – Link to the CardValet page on our website
CardControl for Personal
Help protect personal Solvay Bank Debit cards at no cost with the proactive fraud prevention features of CardControl. Set some boundaries to where, when and how your debit cards are used. Link to the CardControl page on our website.
Use our online and mobile banking services to track account activity 24/7. It’s free, secure, and easy to use. You can manage a number of banking activities anytime, anywhere with internet access including eStatements, view account balances and history, set up alerts, and more!
Easily keep track of your finances—even on the go! You can view account balances, review history, transfer funds between accounts, deposit checks, pay bills, and most importantly, keep a close eye on your money anywhere, anytime.
Don’t let the worry of fraudulent activity on your credit card keep you up at night. If something doesn’t look right, we’ll contact you. Credit Card customers can receive Fraud Alerts which includes a text message when a potentially fraudulent charge is detected. We can walk you through the steps of securing your account to ensure your privacy and protection.
Available to all Solvay Bank Online and Mobile Banking users, eStatements provide an electronic version of your paper statement. Customers receive monthly notifications via email when their statement is available for viewing. Protect your personal financial documents. Your account statements contain personal information, we provide access to these documents via secure connection to our Internet banking site. Getting eStatements started is easy! Log onto Personal Online Banking and click on the "Enroll in eStatements" tab. Select the accounts you wish to receive electronic statements and agree to the terms. If you receive eStatements for an account, you will not receive a paper statement. However, you can print your online statement anytime from online banking.
If you feel you’ve been the victim of a scam and may have provided personal or important financial information, contact Solvay Bank immediately at (315) 484-2201.
Be sure to include any relevant details, such as whether the suspicious caller attempted to impersonate your bank and whether any personal or financial information was provided to the suspicious caller.