Phone Calls

The Breda Savings Bank will never call and ask you to verify login IDs, passwords, or PIN. We may call the number you have provided on your account profile from time to time to verify transactions on your account. You may ask us to answer questions about your account to verify our identity before providing any information or you may even request to call the bank directly to verify the transactions. To further help safeguard your information from potential fraud and identify theft, we offer the following recommendations:

• Protect Your Personal Identifying Information - Never give personal information on the phone, Internet, or over email unless you know whom you are dealing with. Only use the last 4 digits of your social security number for identification purposes. Keep your personal information in a secure place and shred all financial documents and paperwork before discarding them. Make sure any website you're shopping on is secure; the site is secure for transactions if it starts with an https:// instead of http:// or you see a small lock on the lower right hand corner of the screen.
• Configure Your Computer Securely — Make sure your computer, smartphones and tablets are safe. Use privacy and security settings in your software, email system and Web browsers. New strains of malicious software are appearing all the time, so it's imperative to regularly update your anti-virus software to identify and thwart the newest threats.
• Keep Software And Operating Systems Updated — Be sure to install all software updates as soon as they're offered. Using the "auto update" setting is the best way to ensure timely updates. Similarly, make sure you keep your operating system and any third-party plug-ins that you use updated.
• Use Strong Passwords — Never use simple or easy-to-guess passwords like "123456," "p@$$word" or "football." Cybercriminals use automated programs that will try every word in the dictionary within a few minutes. When creating a password, use at least 10 characters with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
• Be Cautious About Links And Attachments — Be cautious about all communications you receive in unsolicited e-mails and those purported to be from friends and family. Be careful when clicking on links in those messages. When in doubt, delete them.
• Protect Your Personal Information — Be aware of what financial and sensitive information you give out. Cybercriminals will look at your social networking Web page to find information about you. Remember, many of the answers to website and bank security questions can be found online, like the color of your car (remember posting that picture of you standing in front of your car?) and your mother's maiden name.  Use privacy settings to limit who can see the details of your social network pages and limit what you decide to share online.
• Review Your Financial Statements Regularly — Cybercriminals find loopholes and your accounts may get hacked through no fault of your own, so review your financial statements regularly. Contact your financial institution immediately if you see any suspicious-looking activity.
• Review Your Credit Report — Federal law allows you to get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company. Utilize this service by going to www.annualcreditreport.com and ensure that the information on all of your credit reports is correct and up to date.

If you become a victim of fraud or identity theft, notify the bank and any other entities with which you have an account to inform them that someone may be using your accounts fraudulently. Contact all three major credit bureaus to request a credit report, and have a fraud alert and a credit freeze placed on your account. Internet-related crime should also be reported to appropriate authorities at the local, state or federal levels, depending on the scope of the crime.