Alerts/Frauds

March 24, 2010 - Phone Scam Requests Debit Card Numbers

By BRIAN MOSELY ~ bmosely@t-g.com

Shelbyville police are warning residents not to fall prey to an automated phone scam that many locals began getting on Monday.
Detective Brian Crews said that people with cell numbers beginning in 703 have been receiving automated calls that claim that the person's debit card has "been compromised."
The recording asks the victim to enter their card number over the phone "so they can fix the problem."
"It's not just people that bank with a credit union," Crews said. "It's also regular banks."
Crews said his department took a number of calls from concerned residents about the scam, and some of the calls even went to the wives of three of Shelbyville's detectives.
Crews explained that the banks do not call you to ask for your number and urged people not to give out your debit card number to anyone over the phone.
Instead, if your card has been compromised, or if you are getting a new one, your financial institution would send the new card to you through the mail, which you would then activate over the phone.
"You shouldn't have to reactivate a card that you've already got," Crews said.

© Copyright 2010 Shelbyville Times-Gazette

February 3, 2009 - Heartland Data Security Breach announced by VISA

Ensuring your account security is a top priority for People's Bank of Bedford County. We have just been alerted by Visa that a breach of security occurred with Heartland Payment Systems, who is a payment processor for over 250,000 merchants nationwide. We have been notified that some of our cardholders utilized one or more of the merchants, which processed through Heartland.

The bank is being very proactive to protect our customers. If we were notified that your card information was possibly compromised, then we have ordered you a new debit card. Your old card will no longer be active as of February 13th. However, if you receive your new card before then or choose to go ahead and close the old card immediately, please call the bank at 931-684-7222.

You can also take steps to protect yourself by closely monitoring your account and double-checking your monthly statement to ensure they match your records. Since your new debit card will have a new number, you will need to notify any company that you have given this number to of the change in numbers.

If you detect any suspicious activity on your account, notify us immediately. Also, please be aware that many times this type of breach instigates even more scams. Please be very aware of this and remember that you are NEVER to divulge any type of personal information over the phone or Internet.

We also want to assure you that People's Bank of Bedford County’s network was not in any way affected by this breach, and this breach occurred because a merchant where you use your card processed t heir transactions thru Heartland Payment Systems.

People's Bank of Bedford County takes our obligation to protect the security and privacy of our customers very seriously. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause you. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at 931-684-7222.