Citizens Bank wants to make sure you know the facts about email fraud so you can defend your personal identification information and your accounts. Scammers work hard to get this information, and you have to work smarter to protect it.
Citizens Bank will never ask you to provide account or other personal identification information via email.
From time to time you may receive emails from us promoting Citizens Bank products or services, bank announcements, or changes to your accounts, but in these emails we will provide a contact person or general toll-free telephone number at the bank for you to contact should you have any questions.
As a reminder, never divulge any personal identification information if requested via an email. Personal identification information is defined as:
- Account or credit card numbers
- Passwords or PINs
- Social Security Number
- Mother’s Maiden Name
- Other private information
If you receive an email from someone claiming to be from Citizens Bank asking for account or personal identification, or if you think your accounts have been compromised, please alert us at (800) 676-6276.
Phishing Scams
Recently, scammers have become very sophisticated in their attempts to obtain your personal and account information. One such scam known as "phishing" sends the victim an email claiming to be from a reputable financial institution. The message in the email directs the victim to click on a link that redirects them to a false web page that looks like a legitimate bank web page. Once the scammer has lured the victim to the fraudulent site they are able to capture account numbers, social security numbers, and other personal identification information that will help them to commit fraud.
Another phishing scheme attempts to convince the customer they need special security software to provide encryption, SSL Certificates or some other software protection against unauthorized access to your online banking account. Actually, the criminals are trying to download malicious software to your computer to capture keystrokes, IDs, passwords and other confidential information. DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK OR APPROVE THE DOWNLOAD. DELETE THE EMAIL.
Citizens Bank will never attempt to download any type of Business or Consumer online banking system updates or other software/certificates to your computer through an email link.
Tips to avoid phishing
- If you receive an unexpected e-mail saying your account will be shut down unless you provide financial or personal information, do not reply or click on any of the links in the e-mail.
- Before submitting financial information through a web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar. It means that the information is a secure server transmission. Only submit information to a web site if you have personally typed in what you know to be a valid web site address – if you got to the web site through a link from any source, do not submit any personal information.
- If you are uncertain about the information, contact the company through an address or telephone number you know to be genuine
- If you unknowingly supplied personal or financial information, contact your credit card company or bank immediately
- Suspicious e-mail can be forwarded to spam@uce.gov and complaints should be filed with the state attorney general’s office or through the FTC at www.ftc.gov.