Every year millions of dollars are lost to Social Engineering. It’s a type of fraud that’s hard to detect and stop; it’s based on a criminal’s ability to exploit the basic human tendency to trust. It’s fraud by deception.
The fraudsters pose as trusted sources and manipulate victims into taking specific actions, like sending wire transfers or giving out confidential information.
Social Engineers use a wide array of tactics to get information that helps them win over their victims’ trust. They do things like phishing or dumpster diving, website spoofing, retest calling, or impersonating a company employee or business associate. It could look like an email, phone call, or a text from a friend or other trusted source. Once the criminals gather enough information to appear legitimate, they contact their victims to set the scheme into motion.
How can you stop it?
Become a human firewall. It’s important to be vigilant. Slow down. Spammers want you to act first and think later. NEVER EVER provide any sensitive financial information until you have verified to whom you are speaking. One easy way of doing that is by reaching out to us. If someone calls you saying they are from Macatawa Bank and you’re suspicious, ask their name and location and hang up the phone. Then you call us back at (877) 820-2265. You can do the same if you receive a text or an email.
Don’t ever get pressured into giving out sensitive information. It’s important to remember to never, under any circumstances give sensitive information like User Name, Password, debit card PIN or Secure Access Code. Macatawa Bank does not ask for that information.