How to recognize and avoid phishing scams
December 15, 2021
Each year millions of people fall victim to phishing attacks, resulting in tens of thousands of people losing their identity — or their money. What is a phishing attack? A scammer disguises an email to make it look like it’s coming from a legitimate source, like a government agency, financial institution or even a family …
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Avoiding Robocall Scams
September 15, 2021
Despite the National Do Not Call Registry, the availability of caller ID and a crackdown by the Federal Trade Commission, robocalls seem to continue unabated. Yep, they’re the annoying recorded messages that usually prompt the person receiving them to take some sort of action. If the robocall is for the purpose of selling something, it …
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Keep Yourself Safe From Malicious QR Code Scams
August 18, 2021
You have no doubt noticed that QR codes—those square blocks of black and white pixels—are ubiquitous, adorning everything from restaurant menus to store products to mall posters. They are a low-cost, easy way for businesses to link consumers to websites, store discounts, promotional campaigns and mobile payments. The problem is, they’re not entirely secure. QR …
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Digital Fraud: How to Spot the Danger
August 18, 2021
The recent barrage of ransomware attacks should serve as a stark warning to any person who spends time in the digital world. Anyone who uses email, shops online or makes mobile payments is a target of cybercriminals seeking to exploit their vulnerabilities. In fighting off these relentless attacks, everyone—both consumers and businesses—is the first line …
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Creative Phone Scammers Have a New Technique
July 13, 2021
Creative Phone Scammers Have a New Technique: Caller ID Spoofing If you ever get a call from someone claiming to be a representative at your bank, be skeptical, even if they have the right caller ID. Using “caller ID spoofing,” scammers can make it look like they’re calling from your bank’s phone number. There have …
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Precautions to Minimize Risks with QR Codes
June 16, 2021
The use of QR codes over the past year and a half has make life easier for people, and it’s getting harder to avoid them as restaurants use them for touch-free menus and they’re found in numerous other business applications. But as we have learned with emails, credit cards and internet surfing, scammers are hiding …
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Facebook Tests New Ways for Users to Discover Businesses
June 16, 2021
In addition to adding new tools and features for businesses in Pages and News Feed, Facebook has also added changes to Business Suite and new optimization goals for ad campaigns Facebook recently announced new features aimed at helping businesses grow by connecting with their customers online. In the United States, the company is testing a …
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Synthetic Identity Fraud
May 12, 2021
Of all the methods fraudsters use to steal identities, synthetic identity may be the most sinister. That’s because it could take years before it’s detected, and by then, the damage has been done and the fraudster has moved on to other victims. Here’s how synthetic identity fraud works: Swindlers use a stolen Social Security number …
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IRS Rolls out Program to Fight Tax Identity Fraud
May 12, 2021
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has expanded its Identity Protection PIN program to enable you to protect yourself against identity theft and tax fraud. In fact, anyone able to prove their identity now has the ability to further protect themselves, thanks to recent efforts by the IRS. Since the onset of COVID-19, instances of identity …
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IRS Tax Fraud and Scams
March 23, 2021
No one wants to be on the wrong side of the IRS, which is why, each year, in the months leading up to the May 17 extended tax filing deadline, scammers come out in full force to take advantage of the worries and fears of American taxpayers. Tax scammers utilize three effective lines of attack—by …
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Sweetheart Scams
February 8, 2021
One of the more popular methods used by scammers to bilk money out of unsuspecting victims is the so-called Sweetheart Scam. What makes this type of fraud especially insidious is that the victims are usually older widows or widowers, at their most vulnerable following the loss of their life partner. Worse, the swindlers are almost …
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Defend Against Digital Fraud
December 15, 2020
Digital fraud is not only on the rise, it is accelerating and growing more sophisticated. While consumers are benefiting from the rise of e-commerce, mobile payments and computer power, so too are criminals, who can more easily take advantage of their vulnerabilities. Consumers and businesses are the first line of defense against digital fraud, and …
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Synthetic Identity Fraud
September 16, 2020
Synthetic identity theft is one of the fastest growing and more insidious forms of fraud because it creates entirely new identities using stolen personal information such as Social Security numbers. It’s also one of the more difficult to detect, so it can go undiscovered for years. Thieves steal a Social Security number and combine it …
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Beware of COVID-19 Scams
May 15, 2020
We all know that scammers and fraudsters are not ones to let a crisis go to waste. The COVID-19 crisis has unleashed a tsunami of scams preying on the virus-related fears of many Americans. The FCC, FTC, FEMA and the FBI are reporting a significant uptick in text messages, emails and robocalls, offering fake cures …
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Mobile Fraud
November 22, 2019
The mobile revolution is transforming the way people transact business. It’s estimated that mobile transactions account for nearly 70% of all financial transactions. However, with that, there has been a commensurate increase in the amount of mobile fraud, costing businesses and consumers as much as $25 billion this year. Cybercriminals are keeping pace with the …
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Facebook Eases Business-Customer Chats in Messenger
October 10, 2019
Facebook recently announced the global rollout of its new lead generation feature for Messenger. The feature is designed to allow businesses to set up an automated question experience to engage with potential customers. Facebook has a style of ads that enables users to click to the Messenger service to open a conversation between the user …
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Digital Fraud
October 10, 2019
An ever-expanding digital world has created boundless opportunities for all, including digital criminals. Digital fraud has increased tenfold over the last five years, becoming ever more sophisticated and brazen in its attacks on consumers, leading to identity theft and financial loss. To protect yourself from digital fraud, you must become your first line of defense …
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Don’t be a Victim of Real Estate Wire Fraud
August 15, 2019
Real estate wire fraud is exploding across the U.S., costing consumers billions of dollars each year. While digital technology has made the process of escrow settlement faster and more convenient, it has also enabled scammers with the right tools to wreak havoc on unsuspecting homebuyers. And, because it involves real estate properties, the financial losses …
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Preventing Identity Theft
July 16, 2019
Identity theft has become a trillion-dollar industry in an ever-expanding market. Working from the darkest corners of the world, identity thieves are relentless in their pursuit of your personal information to use it or sell it to the dark web. The big data breaches make the headlines, but each year tens of millions of people …
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Small Businesses To Use More Social Media Marketing
June 17, 2019
Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of small businesses intend to increase their investment in social media marketing this year, according to a recent survey from The Manifest. In fact, the findings show that more businesses plan to invest in digital marketing than in traditional marketing: The survey found that most small businesses (89 percent) invest in …
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Over a Third of Small Businesses Have No Website
April 24, 2019
While many small businesses find a website to be a critical element in running a company in the digital age, a significant portion still do not consider it to be vital. A recent survey from the portfolio website firm Visual Objects found that over a third of small businesses (40 percent) have not invested in …
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Tax Scams are Surging – Beware!
February 20, 2019
Each year Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax scam artists dupe thousands of taxpayers into revealing sensitive information that leads to stolen identities and money. And, as their methods become more sophisticated and pervasive, they are becoming harder to detect as fraud. As with any type of scam, you are the first and last line of …
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Be Aware of the Latest Cyber-fraud Tactics
January 16, 2019
Another year and another cybercrime tactic. Just as technology seems to change and advance at the speed of light, so too do the scams that cybercriminals rely on to steal from individuals and organizations. As with past years, one of the newest approaches cybercriminals are relying on is impersonating the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This …
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Romance Scams
January 16, 2019
It was purely an online connection – a dalliance into digital romance with hopes of leading to something real. She met him on a dating site where he stood out among all the other suitors. They would never meet in person, but she still fell in love and wanted to make him happy. After a …
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Protect Yourself from Business Email Fraud
December 6, 2018
Cyber attackers continue to evolve an email attack called CEO Fraud or Business Email Compromise. These are targeted email attacks that trick their victim into wiring money to cybercriminals. The FBI says losses are already in the billions of dollars and are growing. The cyber attackers research their intended victim on the internet, then craft …
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Check out My $ Manager
August 16, 2018
Alpine Bank customers you can now use a dynamic online tool to manage your finances. Called My $ Manager, you can get your complete financial picture with one login. It offers this “one stop shopping” by not only pulling current data from all of your Alpine Bank accounts, it also syncs with accounts at nearly …
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Instagram Adds Live Video to Stories Feature to Help Businesses Connect with Their Community
January 30, 2018
Back in the summer, Instagram launched a feature for both regular users and businesses called Stories. Now, the feature includes the ability to share live video. Stories launched to give businesses a way to reach their customers as Instagram itself made it harder for businesses to make sure their followers see all of their posts, …
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