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Online Banking Security

Online Banking Security | Identity Theft Prevention | Credit Reports | Credit Card & Bank Account Security | Telephone & Mail Precautions

At Silver Falls Bank, protecting our customers' privacy and account information is a top priority. We use maximum levels of security and monitoring technology to ensure your account safety. Strict policies and procedures have been implemented to safeguard your personal information. Every effort is made to protect our customers from fraud.

Online Fraud

Online fraud occurs when someone poses as a legitimate company to obtain sensitive personal data and illegally conducts transactions on your existing accounts. Often called "phishing" or "spoofing," the most current methods of online fraud are fraudulent emails, web sites and pop up windows, or any combination of these.

  • Be wary of suspicious emails. An email requesting your account information and password should be scrutinized carefully, particularly if the information is needed to "award a prize" or "verify a statement." Avoid opening any questionable emails. If you have opened an email, do not open any attachments or links it may contain, and delete the message. Please notify us immediately if you receive a suspect email claiming to come from Silver Falls Bank. Or, if you responded with personal information to any suspicious email, call us immediately. Remember, Silver Falls Bank will never send you an email asking you to disclose personal information.
  • Protect your passwords. Memorize your passwords. Do not write them down or share them with anyone. Change them regularly and use combinations of letters and numbers. Do not use your Social Security number as a username or password.
  • Keep your computer and online experience safe. Silver Falls Bank recommends to our online banking customers to install current versions of virus detection software, firewalls and spyware scanning tools to reduce the risk of receiving computer infections. Also it is important to regularly update these programs to combat new threats.

Fake emails will often:

  • Ask you for personal information. Fake emails often claim that your information has been compromised, that your account will be suspended until you verify your personal information or ask you to confirm the authenticity of your transactions.
  • Appear to be from a legitimate source. While some emails are easy to identify as fraudulent, others may appear to be from a legitimate address and trusted online source. However, you should not rely on the name or address of the sender as this is easily altered.
  • Contain prizes or gift certificate offers. Some fake emails promise a prize or gift certificate in exchange for completing a survey or answering questions. In order to collect the alleged prize or gift certificate you may be directed to provide your personal information. Be sure to confirm that the prize or gift certificate is being issued from a known and trusted company.
  • Link to counterfeit Web sites. Fake emails may direct you to counterfeit web sites carefully designed to look real, but which actually collect personal information for illegal use.
  • Link to real web sites. In addition to links to counterfeit web sites, some fake emails also include links to legitimate web sites. Internet fraudsters do this in an attempt to make a fake email appear real.
  • Contain fraudulent phone numbers. Fake emails often contain telephone numbers that are tied to the fraudsters. Never call a number featured on an email you suspect is fraudulent and be sure to double-check any numbers you do call.
  • Contain real phone numbers. Some of the telephone numbers listed in fake emails may be legitimate, connecting to actual companies. Just like with links, fraudsters include the real phone numbers in an effort to make the email appear to be legitimate.

Always keep in mind that Silver Falls Bank will never send an email that requires our customers to send personal information via email or pop-up windows. Any unsolicited request for Silver Falls Bank account information you receive through emails, Web sites, or pop-up windows should be considered fraudulent and reported to us immediately.

Spoofing

Web spoofing allows an attacker to create a "shadow copy" of any legitimate website. Access to the web site is funneled through the attacker's machine, allowing the attacker to monitor all of the victim's activities, including any passwords of account numbers the victim enters. The attacker can also cause false or misleading data to be sent to web servers in the victim's name, or to the victim in the name of any web server. In spoofing, an attacker gains unauthorized access to a computer or a network by making it appear that a malicious message has come from a trusted machine by "spoofing" the address of that machine. Phishing and spoofing often go hand in hand in internet fraud.

Another way to detect a phony web site is to consider how you arrived there. Generally, you were directed by a link in a fake email requesting your account information. Again, Silver Falls Bank will not request personal information from customers via email and any unsolicited request should be considered fraudulent and reported to us immediately.

How can I help protect myself?

With a few simple steps, you can help protect your Silver Falls Bank accounts and personal information from fake emails and web sites:

  • Delete suspicious emails without opening them. If you do open a suspicious email, do not open any attachments or click on any links it may contain.
  • Never provide sensitive account or personal information in response to an email. If you have accidentally entered personal information, please call Silver Falls Bank immediately at 503 874-8808 or 503 518-8808.
  • Install and regularly update virus protection and spy ware detection software.
  • Keep your computer operating system and web browser current.
  • Make sure you are connected to a trusted site instead of a spoofed site.
  • Do not use computers in hotels, libraries and internet cafes to conduct online banking transactions.

The internet is a great tool to conduct on-line business as long as consumers take appropriate precautions and are aware of the possibility that someone may be trying to scam them. The consumer links below can assist you in locating more information about online fraud on the following websites:

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