Our commitment to your financial privacy.
Welcome to The Southern Bank, where we prioritize and safeguard your financial privacy with the utmost dedication. We understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your personal and financial information as you entrust us with your banking needs. As such, we have implemented stringent measures to ensure the security and privacy of your data throughout your interactions with us.
Our Commitment to Your Privacy:
At The Southern Bank, protecting your privacy is a fundamental aspect of our service ethos. We have restricted access to nonpublic information about you, ensuring that only employees who require such information to provide products or services to you have access. This safeguarding extends across all levels of our organization, reflecting our unwavering commitment to maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of your data.
For more detailed information regarding our privacy practices, we encourage you to review our Privacy Policy, which outlines our protocols and procedures for safeguarding your personal and financial information. This policy underscores our dedication to transparency and accountability in all aspects of our operations.
Useful information for consumers:
Consumer Reporting Agencies
You may not prohibit Southern Bank from sharing your loan and deposit account history with consumer reporting agencies. However, you may request that consumer reporting agencies not provide information about you to companies wishing to extend “preapproved” offers to you for their products or services. You may make this request by calling the “Opt-Out Request Line” at 1-888-567-8688.
National Do Not Call Registry
Southern Bank supports the National Do Not Call Registry. To have your phone number added to the National Do Not Call Registry, you may call 1-888-382-1222 or register at www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall. While this will stop most marketing calls, you may still receive calls from businesses where you are a customer.
National Advertisers and Marketing Companies
You may request that the Direct Marketing Association delete your name from telephone and mail lists used by their members in marketing products and services to you. Information on these lists is normally obtained from public sources. Your request lasts for five years and should include all versions of your name in which you currently receive information, your address, and your telephone number, including the area code. Requests for deletion should be mailed to each of the following.
For advertising received through the mail:
Mail Preference Service
c/o Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 643
Carmel , NY 10512
DMA E-Mail Preference Service:
https //dmachoice.org
Protecting Our Children
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed to give parents increased control over what information is collected from their children online and how such information is used. The law applies to websites and services directed to, and which knowingly collect information from, children under the age of 13. Southern bank’s websites and online services are not directed to children under the age of 13, nor is information knowingly collected from them. For additional information on COPPA protections, link to the Federal Trade Commission’s website at https://ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/childrens-privacy. For further information, the Federal Government has created a website, Kidz Privacy, aimed at educating both parents and children about the dangers of the Internet and how to browse safely.
Identity Theft Information
What is Identity Theft?
Identity theft involves the unlawful acquisition and use of someone’s identifying information, such as:
- Name
- Address
- Date of Birth
- Social Security Number
- Mother’s Maiden Name
- Driver’s License
- Bank or Credit Card Account Number
Thieves use the information to steal your identity, opening new accounts, purchasing automobiles, applying for loans, credit cards, and social security benefits, renting apartments and establishing services with utility and telephone companies in your name. It can have a negative effect on your credit and create serious financial problems for you.
How do they get my personal information? |
|---|
| Lost or stolen personal items, including your checkbooks, credit cards, driver’s license or Social Security cards. |
| Stolen mail, including bank statements, credit card statements, credit card solicitations, new checks, and tax information. Thieves may also complete a change-of-address form to divert your mail to another location. |
| Onlookers may watch and/or listen to you conduct personal business such as entering your ATM or debit card PIN or when you’re on the phone. |
| Going through trash, either yours, the trash of businesses or trash in public dumps. |
| The Internet, where personal pages can contain information like genealogical data with your mother’s maiden name that can be used to set up a credit card account or answer a security question to access existing accounts. |
| Phishing, which uses pop-ups or emails to deceive you into disclosing sensitive information such as bank account numbers and social security numbers. It often can appear as if it comes from a trusted source. |
| Posing as a legitimate company, calling on the phone and claiming that you have a problem with your account. |
| Skimming, stealing your credit or debit card numbers by capturing the information in a data storage device, either by swiping your card for an actual purchase or attaching the device to an ATM machine you use. |
| Inside jobs, getting information from businesses or other institutions by stealing records or information while they’re on the job or bribing an employee who has access to these records. |
How do I protect my identity? |
|---|
| Report lost or stolen checks or credit cards immediately. |
| Shred all documents that contain personal information. |
| Don’t put your trash out until shortly before it will be picked up. |
| Pay bills online, mail using a U.S. Postal Service drop box. Don’t put mail in your curbside mailbox until shortly before it will be picked up. |
| Get your mail from your mailbox as soon as possible after it has been delivered. If you’re traveling, have the Postal Service hold your mail. |
| Don’t include your driver’s license number, social security number, or telephone number on your checks, and don’t carry around more cards than necessary. |
| Don’t give any of your personal information in person, over the telephone or over the Internet to anyone unless you have a very good reason to trust them. |
| Don’t give any of your personal information to any unsecured websites. |
| Make sure your high-speed Internet connection has a firewall. |
| Use PINs and passwords that are difficult to guess. Do not use birth dates, names of spouses, children, pets or mothers’ maiden names. Regularly change your passwords. |
Examine your credit card and financial institution statement immediately upon receipt to determine whether there were any unauthorized transactions. Immediately report any that you find. Promptly inquire if bills or statements are not received in a timely fashion – this could mean that they are being diverted by an identity thief.
Review your credit report periodically to make sure it is accurate. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report by calling 1-877-322-8228 or by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com.
Identity Theft Assistance
If you believe you may have been a victim of identity theft:
- File a police report in your local jurisdiction and retain the report number and the name of the officer who took the report.
- Contact your local branch to place holds on your accounts.
- Contact the Social Security Administration’s Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271 to report fraudulent use of your identification information.
- Report the incident as quickly as possible to any one of the credit reporting agencies below.
| Credit reporting agencies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Experian | 1-888-397-3742 | www.experian.com |
| Equifax | 1-800-525-6285 | www.equifax.com |
| Trans Union | 1-800-680-7289 | www.transunion.com |
You should review a current credit bureau report to identify any unauthorized accounts or inquiries and ask the credit reporting agency about placing a Victim Alert Flag on your files. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by contacting the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338)
Security of your online information:
The security of your business and personal information is very important to us. There are various things you can do to protect your information from hackers or thieves. Below are some tips to help you with your online security.
Southern Bank will never initiate a request for sensitive information from you (such as social security number, personal login ID, password, PIN or account number) nor ask you to verify account information via email.
Southern Bank will never send you an email or other text message that requires you to click on a link to take you to another location on the Internet.
Southern Bank strongly suggests that you do not share your personal login ID, password, PIN or account numbers with anyone.
If you receive a letter, telephone call or email that requests this type of action or information, you should be suspicious of it and contact your local branch immediately
When you are online or using email:
- Don’t give your login access codes with any third party.
- Don’t access your bank, brokerage or other financial services information at Internet cafes or other public spaces.
- Limit financial information on your laptop or hand-held device.
- Never leave your computer unattended while using any online banking or investing service.
- Don’t respond to emails appearing to be from your bank, government office or other entity that request personal information such as User IDs, Passwords, PINs, Social Security Number, etc.
- Delete email messages that appear to be spam or contain suspicious attachments.
- Don’t open unexpected attachments or links from known or unknown sources.
- Enroll in Online Banking with Bill Pay to help avoid mail fraud.
Protect your computer against viruses:
- Purchase and install antivirus software, preferably software that automatically scans for virus updates whenever you go online. Update this software regularly.
- Do not open email attachments or downloaded files without first saving them to your hard disk (C: drive). Your antivirus software should be configured to scan each file when it is saved and when it is opened.
- Never open email attachments from individuals you do not know. Delete them.
- Use caution with all email attachments, even if you know the sender. If you have suspicions about a message, contact the sender and confirm that they did send the message.
- Perform frequent scans on your computer to help detect viruses.
- Keep your operating systems and software up to date by applying the latest security patches.
Do not provide confidential information to anyone online without making sure that the site is encrypted for your protection. If a site is secure, you will see the following indicators:
- A locked padlock or unbroken key will appear at the bottom of your screen.
- The website address at the top of your browser screen will change from “http” to “https”.
- You will be required to utilize a User ID and password to gain access to the site.
Online Banking
When you enroll in Online Banking, you select a unique username and password. To prevent unauthorized access to your account, please make sure that you keep your username and password confidential. Here are some basic steps you can take:
- If you must write down your username and password, store them in a safe place away from your computer.
- Change your password immediately if you suspect it is known by anyone else.
- Never give your password to anyone over the phone, regardless of the circumstances. Southern bank will not ask you for your password.
It is important to select a password that you can remember without writing it down, and that will be difficult for someone else to guess.
- Here are some tips for selecting a password:
- Use eight or more characters.
- Mix upper-case and lower-case letters with numbers and special characters.
- Don’t use personal information. Names, birth dates, telephone numbers, license plate numbers, Social Security numbers, street addresses, or the brand of automobile you drive, etc., are easy to guess.
- Do not use the same or consecutive characters, i.e. 1111 or 1234.
- Don’t use correctly spelled words in any language. Password cracking software contains dictionaries that can crack these in minutes.
- Develop a method of creating passwords that makes it easier for you to remember so you don’t have to write your passwords down.
- You can use a line in a favorite song, poem, or movie and select the first letter of each word to create your password—and include at least one number.
- Use two short words and connect them with a number.
- Use a word that you can easily remember but remove the vowels and replace them with numbers.
- Always log off and exit the system when you have completed your session. As an additional security measure, your Southern Bank Online Banking session will automatically log off after an extended period of inactivity.
Protection for your Business Accounts
- Do not have the same person balance the bank statement and issue checks.
- Regularly review your account activity and canceled checks, especially if someone else reconciles your bank statement.
- Secure all reserve supplies of checks, deposit slips and other banking documents in a locked compartment.
- Limit access to only a few authorized employees.
- Change the locks when an employee leaves your company.
- Conduct random audits, especially for employees who have access to financial records and documents.
- Use an electronic payment system for check disbursement rather than manually issuing checks.
- Understand the deposit account agreement with your bank and what your liability is for fraud under the Uniform Commercial Code.
- Use a shredder to destroy all canceled checks and financial data that is no longer needed.
- Have employees bonded if appropriate in your industry. A bond is insurance that an employer has purchased from a bonding company to protect clients from losses caused by an employee.
- Stay in touch with other businesses to share information regarding suspected fraud activity.
- Purchase your checks and deposit slips from our approved check vendors to ensure the quality of your check stock and the integrity of your account documents.
- Do not share your login access codes for online services with any third party.
Protection for your checks, debit cards and credit cards
Be careful when conducting transactions at the ATM, on the phone, when shopping or in a restaurant to protect your information. Treat your personal and account information with great care and avoid giving information over the phone. Here are some helpful tips to put you in control of your information in your everyday life.
Check Fraud
Check Fraud can be perpetrated as easily as someone stealing a blank check from your home or vehicle during a burglary, searching for a canceled or old check in the garbage, or removing a check you have mailed to pay a bill from the mailbox.
To protect yourself from falling victim to check fraud schemes, you should become more familiar with the most common check fraud schemes being used today. To learn more and see examples of these schemes, please visit fakechecks.org.
Checks
- Store your extra checks and deposit slips in a secure locked location, and properly destroy canceled checks.
- Protect your checkbook and bank documents (including statements and canceled checks) so they are not accessible to guests, contractors, repairmen, etc. Never leave your checkbook in your car.
- When closing a bank account, be certain to destroy or shred any extra checks and deposit slips.
- If your home is burglarized, validate your supply of checks to ensure they have not been compromised or stolen. Look closely, since thieves will sometimes take only one or two checks from the middle or back of the book, so it’s harder to determine that they are missing.
- Purchase your checks and deposit slips from our approved check vendor to ensure quality of your check stock and the integrity of your account documents.
Credit Cards and Debit Cards
Most credit card fraud involves lost or stolen cards. Thieves can get your credit cards by stealing your wallet, burglarizing your home or even paying store employees for credit card numbers and reselling them on the black market.
Credit card thieves don’t need to have the credit card itself to do damage. All they need is a sales slip or bill with your account number and expiration date. Think of your credit card number as a confidential piece of information that you need to guard vigilantly.
- Never give your card number to strangers or telemarketers who call you on the phone. Be wary of a tantalizing offer or prize that requires you to give out your credit card number.
- Write down the toll-free numbers for reporting your credit cards lost or stolen, and keep the number at home, in your purse or wallet and at your office so that you will be prepared to call immediately if you have to.
- Always check that you get your card back after you make a purchase.
- Keep your cards in a safe place that won’t be obvious to burglars.
- Always sign your card in ink as soon as you receive it.
- Never lend your card to anyone. If you want to let someone else use your card to buy something, handle the transaction yourself.
- Shred all credit card receipts and pre-approved credit card offers into tiny pieces before you throw them away. Keep your billing statements in a safe place.
- When you use your credit card online, make sure you are using a secure website. Look for a small key or lock symbol at the bottom right of your browser’s window.
Criminals may disguise themselves as telemarketers, impersonate bank personnel, and use the mail to commit financial fraud. Also, fraudsters often target the elderly with schemes designed to take advantage of their finances. Here are a few of the more common telemarketing scams:
- You’ve won the lottery! Now, just wire us some money.
- Help us transfer funds to the U.S. and you’ll be rewarded.
- You’ve inherited money from a relative you don’t know.
- Bank Employee Impersonator—Customer is told there is a computer problem or security investigation and asked to provide their account information for verification. Or, the customer is told of a problem with their account and directed to click on a link where information about their account is solicited or the link installs software on their computer.
- Law Enforcement Impersonator—Someone claiming to be a bank examiner, FBI agent or police officer contacts a bank customer and indicates that they are investigating suspected employee fraud at the bank and needs the customer’s help in catching the thief.
Helpful things to remember:
- Be wary of any offer that sounds unreal or too good to be true.
- Be suspicious of any offer that requires you to wire money, withdraw cash from your account or provide account information.
- Verify any calls or emails that you receive about a security or fraud investigation with your bank or financial institution.
- Be wary of telemarketers or direct mail merchants who want to “draft” your bank account, and do not provide your bank account information over the phone to strangers.
- Be wary of any individual that approaches you outside the bank or in the parking lot and requests that you withdraw money from your account for any reason.
- Avoid clicking on any links in emails about which you are unsure. Especially avoid links that have suffixes like “exe.” Misspellings and bad grammar are also giveaways of a fraudulent email.