Digital Banking is a key part of our daily lives. It keeps us informed on our finances with the ease of viewing the accounts on devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers. It has never been easier to retrieve and review information on all your finances.
These same devices also connect to many other things in your household through your home network. Without ensuring the proper security is setup for each of these devices, your personal information is at risk.
What can you to mitigate and control this risk? Well, there are several things you can do to reduce your risk. Remember, you are responsible for keeping your password and online account information confidential.
Best practices for securing your connected devices:
Account managers allow you to reset your passwords. Strong passwords are those that use a combination of characters such as upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, special characters, and are at least 10 characters long. Remember to use a different password for each device or account you have so that if one is compromised, not all of them are affected.
Tips to Remember:
If you are locked out of your online account due to excessive failed log-in attempts, you believe your password has been lost or stolen, or if you suspect any fraudulent activity on your account, you must call us immediately at 618-827-3541 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday or 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
If you wish to change your password other than when you believe your password has been lost or stolen or if you suspect any fraudulent activity on your account, please use the change password feature within Mobile Banking Application.
Use software that detects, removes, and prevents all viruses, malware, or spyware. There are many different paid and free options of antivirus protection available to everyone. Make sure each of your devices is covered by an antivirus software.
Software providers all update their programs and apps regularly as new vulnerabilities, and viruses are discovered. Make sure each of your devices is always up to date with their software.
Make sure to protect your home network by changing the login information to that router to something only you know. Each router comes with a default login setup. It is important to change this so that only you have access to it so no one can access your home network.
You should not rely on e-mail if you need to report an unauthorized transaction from one of your accounts or if you need to stop a payment that is scheduled to occur. E-mail transmissions are not secure. We advise you not to send us or ask for sensitive information such as account numbers, Password, account information, etc. via any general or public e-mail system.
There are many types of scams in today’s world, and they are everywhere. There is a very large chance you or a close loved one has been affected in some way by one of these scams. Scammers often use fear tactics to scare their victims into giving them private information or money in some form. A very common tactic of a scammer is to coerce you to giving them access to your online banking, credit card number, or even purchasing a gift card and giving them the number on it. Scams are constantly changing and being able to recognize a scam before it happens is very important to be able to protect yourself.
If you receive communication from a source and are unsure if it is a scam or not, please contact us at 618-827-3541 before you give them any information that could put you at risk. For your convenience, here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s website that can help you identify, report, and protect against these scams.
Common Scams: