If You Become a Victim
If you are a victim of fraud file a police report with the local police department and provide the facts and circumstances surrounding the loss.
- Obtain a police report number with the date, time, department, location and officer's name taking the report or involved in the subsequent investigation. Having a police report on file will often facilitate dealing with insurance companies, banks, and other establishments that may be the recipient of fraudulent activity. The police report may initiate a law enforcement investigation into the loss with the goal of identifying, arresting and prosecuting the offender and possibly recovering losses.
- Maintain a written chronology of what happened, what was lost and the steps the client took to report the incident to the various agencies, banks and firms impacted. Be sure to record the date, time, contact telephone number, person spoken to, and any relevant report or reference number and instructions.
- Review the recommendations at the Federal Trade Commission’s Identity Theft website.
- Have your network and systems reviewed by a qualified computer forensic/information security professional.
Incident Reporting
When online fraud is identified contact your local FBI field office at http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm, or file a complaint online at www.IC3.gov.
Helpful Tips for Online Security
Opus Bank offers safe and secure online banking, but there are also additional precautions to protect your home computer, network systems and financial transactions during business and personal internet usage. Below we've provided a list of tips to help solidify your online security.
Follow these best practices to secure your
business computers:
- If possible, carry out all online banking activities from a stand-alone, hardened and completely locked down computer system from which
e-mail and Web browsing are not possible. - Be suspicious of e-mails purporting to be from a financial institution, government department or other agency requesting account information, account verification or banking access credentials such as usernames, passwords, PIN codes and similar information. Opening file attachments or clicking on web links in suspicious emails could expose the system to malicious code that could hijack your computer.
- Install a dedicated, actively managed firewall, especially if you have a broadband or dedicated connection to the Internet, such as DSL or cable. A firewall limits the potential for unauthorized access to a network and computers.
- Create a strong password with at least 10 characters that include a combination of mixed case letters, numbers and special characters.
- Prohibit the use of “shared” usernames and passwords for online banking systems.
- Use a different password for each website that is accessed and change the password a few times each year.
- Never share username and password information.
- Limit administrative rights on users’ workstations to help prevent the inadvertent downloading of malware or other viruses.
- Install commercial anti-virus and desktop firewall software on all computer systems. Free software may not provide protection against the latest threats compared with an industry standard product.
- Ensure virus protection and security software are updated regularly.
- Ensure computers are patched regularly particularly operating system and key application with security patches. It may be possible to sign up for automatic updates for the operating system and many applications.
- Consider installing spyware detection programs.
- Clear the browser cache before starting an Online Banking session in order to eliminate copies of web pages that have been stored on the hard drive. How the cache is cleared will depend on the browser and version. This function is generally found in the browser's preferences menu.
- Make certain that you have a secure session (https: not http: in the address bar link) in the browser for all online banking.
- Avoid using automatic login features that save usernames and passwords for online banking.
- Never leave a computer unattended while using any online banking or investing service.
- Never access bank, brokerage or other financial services information at Internet cafes, public libraries, etc. Unauthorized software may have been installed to trap account number and sign on information leaving you vulnerable to possible fraud.
- Immediately escalate any suspicious transactions to the financial institution, particularly ACH or wire transfers. There is a limited recovery window for these transactions and immediate escalation may prevent further loss.
- In the event you are a victim of fraud, there are a number of immediate recommendations to take to help protect your financial interests. A few general suggestions include:
- Immediately cease all activity from computer systems that may be compromised. Unplug the ethernet or cable modem connections to isolate the system from remote access.
- Immediately contact Opus Bank so that the following actions may be taken as a priority to contain the incident:
- Online access to the accounts is disabled.
- Online Banking passwords changed.
- New account(s) opened as appropriate.
- Request the financial institution’s agent review all recent transactions and electronic authorizations on the account.
- Immediately cease all activity from computer systems that may be compromised. Unplug the ethernet or cable modem connections to isolate the system from remote access.
Other Tips to Consider:
- Opus Bank offers several fraud deterrent products.
Have a Treasury Management Officer contact you today.
- Reconcile all banking transactions on a daily basis.
- Initiate ACH and wire transfer payments under dual control,
with a transaction originator and a separate transaction authorizer.
- Additionally, ensure that no one has requested an address change,
title change, PIN change or ordered new cards, checks or other account documents be sent to another address.
©2011 Opus Bank, 19900 MacArthur Blvd., 12th Floor, Irvine, CA 92612