Author: Chelsea Culp

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and FNB wants to bring you valuable weekly tips and information that will help you protect your good name.  Your accounts, social security number, and personal identification information doesn’t come with a built-in alarm, so we’re bringing you a variety of weekly tips to help keep your money and identity safe.  We encourage you to stay tuned to GrowWithFNB.com throughout October and let’s #BeCyberSmart.

Last week, we touched on the topic of Phishing.  This week we are going to dive deeper into this subject, as this is a huge issue in today’s society for both individuals and businesses.  Phishing is a form of social engineering where a bad guy impersonates someone you think is legitimate in an attempt to gain access to your system or get you to do something for them.  Phishing attacks can happen over the phone, across text messages, and most commonly over email.  The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individuals and businesses in 2019 with the most frequently reported complaints as phishing and similar ploys.

If you are not sure about an email, the best rule of thumb is to call and get confirmation from the sender.  Compromised email accounts can lead to other issues with your banking, shopping, and more.  What safeguards can you put in place for extra layers of protection?  Create strong passwords that are long and complex.  A helpful tip for creating strong passwords and being able to remember them is by using favorite movie quotes, song lyrics, book titles, and more.

Let’s talk about Business Email Compromise (BEC), also known as Customer/Corporate Account Takeover (CATO).  According to the FBI’s IC3, BEC’s cost businesses over $1.7 billion in losses in 2019.  Compromised business email accounts are extremely serious. Bad guys compromise and takeover your real business email address (almost always through a phishing email that tricked a user into giving up their password) and use it to impersonate you, steal money through conducting illegal payments, wire fraud, gift card purchases, go after payroll funds, and more.

1. First and most importantly, train your staff about phishing emails and the risks of email compromise. Teach them how to avoid phishing scams and red flags to look out for. Train them not to give out passwords and other sensitive information.
2. Keep your security up to date.
   • Email filters don’t always work but they work better when kept up to date.
   • Keep your antivirus up to date and install your system patches. Malware that tries to get installed will have a harder time if you do this.
   • Communication is key! Encourage your staff to talk with their coworkers about possible phishing emails.  Bad guys often take a “shotgun” approach and target many users at once hoping one person will allow the compromise.
3. Verify, verify, verify! Just like at home if you were to get an email from someone and you’re unsure about it, call and check. A two-minute call can save you months or years of problems. What if your customer has experienced a business email compromise? Stay on your toes!
4. Remember Week 1? Stay Security Aware!  Check out the following resources below from the FBI and the FTC:
   • https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise
   • https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/scams-your-small-business-guide-business

As we wrap up Week 3, we want to remind you that FNB (and any other financial institution) will not ever call, text or e-mail you and ask you for your debit card number, PIN number, social security number, account number and more.  We already have your personal information securely on file at the bank from when you opened your accounts; therefore, we would never have reason to contact you again for them.  As always, please contact your bank immediately if you feel like you’ve accidentally fallen victim to a scam.  We are here to help and guide you through the process and help protect your identity.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and FNB wants to bring you valuable weekly tips and information that will help you protect your good name.  Your accounts, social security number, and personal identification information doesn’t come with a built-in alarm, so we’re bringing you a variety of weekly tips to help keep your money and identity safe.  We encourage you to stay tuned to GrowWithFNB.com throughout October and let’s #BeCyberSmart.

Welcome to Week 2 of FNB’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month Tips.  This week we are highlighting the importance of Protecting Your Privacy.  At FNB, we see the damage firsthand of how identity theft affects our customers every day.  In 2019, 13 million consumers fell victim to identity fraud, totaling $3.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for those consumers.

• Children and Senior Citizens. Children’s social security numbers are a target for cyber criminals due to their credit being a clean slate.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, seniors are viewed as more trusting, thus causing them to be more vulnerable to be targeted by phone through a variety of internet and phishing scams.
• Members of the Military. Military members are often suspectable to having bank and credit card fraud, as it may be difficult to detect while being deployed.
• Social Media Users. Let’s face it, we live in a very social media fixated culture.  Many social media users do not take the proper safety precautions when setting up their accounts and post a lot of personal information about themselves on multiple social media platforms.  With this easy to find and accessible information, there’s no wonder why social media cybercrime is up 23% since 2018.
• Repeat Victims. I’ve already been a victim of a cybercrime; it can’t happen to me again.  Think again!  This is the wrong mindset to have as 7-10% of the US population are victims each year and out of those impacted, 21% of those experience multiple incidents.
• The Deceased. Did you know that 2.5 million deceased identities are stolen every year in the United States?  How does this happen?  Public obituaries and social administration’s Master Death File houses public information that cyber thieves utilize to their benefit.  This can potentially leave a lot of work and headache for those family members handling the estates after someone has passed.

• Shredding personal documents before throwing them away.
• Recycle old/expired electronics, such as old cell phones, computers, etc. that may contain personal information on them before discarding or selling them.
• Sign up for free scam alerts from the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/scams.
• Credit cards have significant fraud protection built in and are a great way to pay for online purchases.
• Get your free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com.
• Let’s face it, your 4-year-old doesn’t need a loan. Consider a child credit freeze until they’re older.  To do this, you’ll need to contact the 3 credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) separately.
• Go to identitytheft.gov to get personal recovery plans and advice on tax, medical, and child identity theft.

We protect your personal information from unauthorized access and use and use security measures that comply with federal law.  These measures include computer safeguards and secured files and buildings. We restrict access to non-public personal information about you only to those employees who need it in order to provide our services to you.  Click here to view FNB’s Privacy Policy.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and FNB wants to bring you valuable weekly tips and information that will help you protect your good name.  Your accounts, social security number, and personal identification information doesn’t come with a built-in alarm, so we’re bringing you a variety of weekly tips to help keep your money and identity safe.  We encourage you to stay tuned to GrowWithFNB.com throughout October and let’s #BeCyberSmart.

Welcome to Week 1 of FNB’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month Tips.  Our first focus is bringing you a Cybersecurity Awareness overview that you can apply at home and at work.  There’s a common misconception that individuals and small businesses in rural America are immune to cybersecurity attacks.  The statistics are staggering and prove quite the opposite.

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails claiming to be from reputable companies and people in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.  Here’s the scary part.  To protect yourself from a Phishing attempt, you must be correct 100% of the time.  It’s always best to be cautious.  By simply clicking on a link in a phishing attempt, you can instantly have malware deployed on your computer.

Malware is software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system.  Out of all the phishing attempts, 94%+ malware is delivered via email.  The best rule of thumb when protecting yourself from phishing attacks is to look before you leap.  Do not click on any links or open attachments contained in the suspicious email.  Do not enter personal information in a pop-up screen, as legitimate companies do not use this method for collecting information.  From there, you can delete or not respond to the suspicious e-mail.

At FNB, we encourage you to utilize free resources that help protect you against cybercrime.  We encourage you to check out the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s (US-CERT) website.  You can sign up to receive text and e-mail security tips, alerts, and bulletins, as well as information and training for home and small business users.  We recommend you to check out the following links to access the large variety of resources: https://us-cert.cisa.gov/home-and-business and https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips.

It’s always the right time to create a saving and spending plan (aka a budget). It’s also a good idea to revisit that plan annually or when a major shift occurs in your income or expenses.

We’ve created an easy to use, but thorough, Spending and Saving Plan tool to use. Before you get started, here are some tips to help you #ThinkLikeASaver, ensuring that your money is working smarter and harder for you.

Step 1. Determine your income.

To create an effective budget, you need to know exactly how much money you’re bringing in each month. Calculate your monthly income by adding your paychecks and any other source of income that you receive regularly. Be sure to use your net pay rather than your gross pay. Your net pay is the amount you receive after taxes and other allocations, like retirement savings, are deducted.

Step 2. Track both your expenses and your spending.

This step is essential. It’s not enough to write out your actual expenses, like rent or mortgage, food, and auto insurance, you must also track what you are spending.

If you’ve ever felt like your money “just disappears,” you’re not the only one. Tracking your spending is a great way to find out exactly where your money goes. Spending $10 a day on parking or $5 every morning for coffee doesn’t sound like much until you calculate the total cost per month.

Tracking your spending will help you pinpoint the areas you may be overspending and help you quickly identify where you can make cost-efficient cuts.

Once you’ve written out your expenses and tracked your spending habits, you’re ready for the next step.

Step 3. Set your financial goals.

Now you get to look at your present financial situation and habits and decide what you want your future to look like. Ask yourself what’s most important to you right now? What financial goals do you want to achieve?

Some common goals include building an emergency fund, paying down debt, purchasing a home or car, saving for education, and retirement.

Step 4. Decrease your spending or increase your income.

What if you set your financial goals and realize there’s not enough money left at the end of the month to save for the things you want?

You essentially have two choices. You can either change the way you manage your current income or add a new source of income. In today’s gig economy, it’s easier than ever to add a stream of income, but we know that everyone’s situation is different, and that’s not always an option.

Even if you can add income, you may have identified some spending habits you’d like to change by decreasing how much you spend.

Take a look back at your expense tracking. For the nonessential items, consider reducing your spending. For example, if you find that you are spending quite a bit on entertainment, like movies or dining out, reduce the number of times you go per month.

Then apply the money that’s been freed up to your savings goals.

For more ideas on how to increase your savings, read 54 Ways to Save.

Step 5. Stick to your plan.

Make sure you stick to your spending and savings plan. To make saving more efficient, set up automatic savings so that you can set it and forget it! Saving automatically is the easiest way to save.

Reassess and adjust your plan whenever you have life changes such as marriage, a new baby, a move, or a promotion.

Following your plan ensures that you’re financially stable, are ‘thinking like a saver,’ and better prepared for those unexpected emergencies.

Want a savings accountability partner? Take the America Saves Pledge or re-pledge and commit to saving successfully. America Saves will support you by being your “Savings Accountability Partner” with tips, resources, nudges, and email and text communications to help you stay on track of your savings goal.

Written by Kia Young, AmericaSaves.org/blog