Security Notice to Customers

Fraudulent activity is on the rise nationwide and worldwide. Regardless of whether you use a paper transaction or an electronic transaction, someone may attempt to use fraud, to obtain something you have. This is nothing new. It is basically a problem that spans back through time, but law enforcement authorities and government regulatory officials indicate that such activity is increasing.

Most transactions with others are honest and without problems, however a few people will experience problematic situations, where there is some form of wrongdoing. Not every problem situation is a fraudulent situation, either, and many never actually directly involve a bank. However, if you encounter a situation, where you reasonably believe it is a suspicious situation, you should contact your local law enforcement authorities, promptly. If it involves information linked to an account, loan or other relationship you have with our bank, you may also want to contact us.

If you have a suspicious situation or transaction, that is related to an account, loan or other relationship you have with our bank, you may stop by or call the Citizens Community Bank office nearest you ( see location information, on this web-site ) or send us an electronic message, at the e-mail address for contacting our bank, provided on this web-site.

Following, are some examples of fraudulent activity that we have retrieved from other sources:

Examples of Fraudulent Activity
First, let’s define fraud. Fraud is the intention to get another person to part with something of value. This may include any of the following:

• Forged, altered or counterfeit checks
• Altered or counterfeit currency
• Forged, altered or counterfeit bank instruments, such as money orders, drafts, cashier’s checks, or teller checks.
• Stolen, altered, or counterfeit credit/debit cards
• Check kiting and other con games.

Typical Examples of Scams:

Phony Bank Examiner
A bank examiner calls you and asks you to participate in apprehending a person involved in some type of criminal activity and ask you to deposit currency that is marked into your account. A bank examiner would never request a bank customer to assist in an investigation or give a banking customer marked cash or cash of any kind to deposit.

Credit Card/Debit Card
A person calls you and informs you of a fantastic buy or you won a contest. The person then wants you to provide them your complete credit/debit card information, in order for you to receive the item. If it’s too fantastic of a buy it’s usually a scam. If they state you have won something in a contest, the item you won should be free and not require your credit/debit card information. Don’t give out your card information to anyone you don’t know.

Pigeon Drop
A person comes to you stating they have found a bag of money. They pretend not to know what to do with the money. They then call a lawyer and say that the money can be split between the two of you after a waiting period and payment of the lawyer’s fees. If money is found, the best thing you can do is to take the money to the authorities.

Computer Scams
You list something to sell over the internet. You receive an email stating they are purchasing the item from you. They are sending you a cashier’s check for more money than the purchase price, to pay for shipping or to another person that they owe money. They further state that you must wire the funds immediately, and you may keep an extra amount of cash, for your time and trouble. The results are usually that the cashier’s check is stolen or counterfeit, and you are out of the money you wired to them. The bank recommends you contact and verify that the funds are good, with the bank it is drawn upon.

These are just a few examples of fraud that you can experience. Please be very careful in providing your bank account and credit/debit card information to others. If you have questions regarding fraudulent activity, please feel free to call us or your local authorities for additional help or information.