American
Federal Savings Bank Security Commitment
At American Federal, we're committed to protecting your privacy
and security. We will never initiate a request for sensitive
information from you via email (ie., Social Security Number, Personal
ID, Password, PIN or account number). We strongly suggest that
you do not share your Personal ID, Password, PIN or account number
with anyone, ever (unless you initiate the communication). Click
here for information regarding Consumer
Protection laws and your Credit Report.
Foreign
ATM and Debit Card Transactions
To help prevent FRAUD, we have elected not to allow foreign
ATM and Debit Card transactions. Please contact us if you plan
to travel outside the United States so we may activate that feature
for you.
What
is "Phishing?"
"Phishing" refers to a person or a group of cyber-criminals
who create an imitation or copy of an existing legitimate Web
page to trick users into providing sensitive personal information.
Responding to "phishing" emails put your accounts at risk. Receiving
an email is a matter of chance and does not mean that your data
or our systems have been compromised. Please contact the Bank
at (406) 442-3080 immediately if you suspect you've received a
"phishing" email posing as American Federal Savings Bank.
Large
numbers of recipients are being "spammed," without actual knowledge
of their banking affiliation. They request and collect email addresses
and other confidential information like financial account numbers,
IDs and passwords. The cyber-criminals have copied the logos and
the content styles of widely known and respected financial institutions
in an attempt to elicit a response from a recipient who may or
may not be a customer of that financial institution.
Who
Are Cyber-Criminals?
"Phishing" cyber-criminals solicit personal data from unsuspecting
victims via the Internet - like personal IDs, passwords, card
numbers and PINs - and sell this information to other criminals
who use it for financial gain. They can also access a customer's
accounts through online banking and set up false bill payments
that send checks to the criminal or a conspirator. In other cases,
criminals transfer funds from all available customer accounts,
including credit cards, savings accounts and home equity loans
into their checking account. A copy of the customer's credit card
or check card is then used with their PIN at ATMs around the world
to withdraw cash from their checking account.
To increase the number of responses, cyber-criminals include
upsetting or exciting statements in their emails. They want people
to react immediately and respond with the desired information
without thinking. To protect yourself, take the time to examine
the claims made in the email. If you receive an email requesting
sensitive information, check its authenticity by contacting the
company that appears to be the originator of the email, however
do not use the phone number in the email, use a different source
for that information.
What
is "Pharming"?
Similar to phishing, pharming is a means for criminals to fraudulently
gain access to your personal information. While phishing requires
the victim, in some fashion, to voluntarily come to the criminal’s
website, pharming is more insidious. As you may know, phishing
is a means to trick the user to come to a fraudulent website,
usually by sending links to the fake site in emails purporting
to be from the victim’s financial institution. Pharming, however,
redirects the victim to the fraudulent website without assistance,
often regardless whether the victim is security-conscious. Pharming
works by subverting a basic service of the Internet known as the
‘Domain Name Service,’ or ‘DNS.’
