Phishing

Northampton Cooperative Bank would like to warn you to be on the look-out for financial scams intended to steal your money and/or your identity. Anyone can become a victim and you need to know how to help protect yourself from various “phishing” (pronounced fishing) scam artists.

“Phishing” is a term used to describe fraudulent e-mail messages designed to steal your personal information. These e-mail messages may appear to come from a legitimate business – even using legitimate logo’s. But the fact is, they are actually from thieves masquerading as a legitimate business. The e-mail will ask you to click on a link - taking you to a phony website - created by a phishing scam-artist.

If you click on the link, the phony website will ask you for personal information. The thieves then steal your information to harm your good name, access your accounts, open new accounts and even commit crimes in your name. Phishing e-mail messages typically suggest that if you do not update your personal information, your account will be closed.

Rest assured that Northampton Cooperative Bank will never send you an e-mail message requesting any personal information. You supplied this information to us when you opened your account. If you receive such an email message – it is a scam and you should contact us immediately.

As a reminder, it is important that you update and run anti-virus protection software on a regular basis to help maintain your computer against any malicious code.

• The e-mail message will urge you to act “quickly” or your account will be closed.

• The wording may be sloppy and contain errors and misspellings.

• Personal information is requested – such as user names and passwords, debit card numbers and PINs, social security numbers, mother’s maiden name, etc.

• An “@” symbol in the linked website address may indicate that the source might be imitating the bank. (For example www.northampton@coop.com is fake).

• Watch out for non-secure website pages that ask for sensitive information. Secure sites use encryption technology to protect your personal information.

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Odds are, “valuable offers” and “great deals” are other ways to obtain personal information from you.

• Contact the bank immediately.

• Contact the local police department.

• Change your user names and personal identification numbers.

• Maintain a written log of what has happened to you, the steps that you have taken, and the names of the people that you have spoken to.

• Check your monthly account statement as soon as you receive it and report any irregularities to us immediately.

• Report suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission (for the Consumer) FTC at www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.

• Forward any email message received that is “fishing” for your personal information, to spam@uce.gov.

• Obtain FREE information on consumer issues, at the Federal Trade Commission website at www.ftc.gov.

• Visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site at www.ftc.gov to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft.

• Visit www.ftc.gov to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.

You as a consumer have consumer protection laws protecting you when fraud occurs, but they work only if the fraud is reported in a timely manner.

Northampton Cooperative Bank
67 King Street
PO Box 150
Northampton, MA 01060