Important information regarding the Equifax data breach

 In General
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Hand holding speech bubble with 'Data Breach' words. Security concept.Recently, Equifax, one of the three national consumer credit reporting agencies, announced a major data breach. This breach affects approximately 143 million Americans. This is what we know according to Equifax: the data breach occurred May – July 2017, and the information stolen includes consumers’ personally identifiable information, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. Approximately 209,000 credit card numbers and dispute documents with personally identifiable information for approximately 182,000 consumers were also stolen. There is no evidence of unauthorized access to consumers’ credit reporting databases.

How FNBC can help and other tips:

FNBC Bank’s Cobalt Checking account does provide monitoring services through IDProtect®¹. This product gives you access to 3-in-1 credit bureaus and credit monitoring, and allows you to monitor your credit cards and Social Security number for no additional fees. Users can sign up to receive text or email alerts promptly if fraud is detected. Should this occur, you are covered by up to $10,000 in insurance² and receive a dedicated case manager to walk you through your claim, making fighting fraud as painless as possible. If you are interested in changing your account type to Cobalt Checking to receive these benefits, please contact us at 870-994-2311 or stop into one of our locations to speak with a Community Banker. They will be happy to walk you through the account features and benefits in greater detail.

Regardless of if you choose to utilize Cobalt Checking and IDProtect®, to protect your identity and personal information, FNBC Bank strongly encourages our customers to take the actions noted below.

  • Review your account statements to spot any suspicious transactions. You can also monitor your account activity online through our Online Banking platform at any time at www.fnbc.us.
  • If you spot any suspicious transactions, please contact us immediately at 870-994-2311.
  • Consider if you should place an initial fraud alert on your credit report.
  • Consider if you should freeze your credit file.
  • Review your credit reports for accuracy. Call any one of the three credit reporting agencies to receive your free annual credit report or visit annualcreditreport.gov.You should also contact the credit reporting agencies to notify them of any suspected fraud or identity theft.

  • To be clear, FNBC Bank was not compromised and your information was not stolen from our bank. However, FNBC takes the security of our customer information very seriously, and we are providing you with the information we know about this massive breach and the steps you can take to protect your personally identifiable information if you so desire. Following this unprecedented breach, we are also asking our customers to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity in your FNBC accounts by calling 870-994-2311.

    Check your status and next steps:

    Equifax has established a website that informs consumers if they may be affected by the breach, provides additional information on the breach, and offers complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring. This information is available at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com.

    If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, contact your local law enforcement office and/or your state attorney general. Finally, you may also want to consider reviewing information about recovering from identity theft, which is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338). The FTC also offers general information to protect your online presence at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/privacy-identity-online-security.

    Equifax has established a dedicated toll-free number to answer questions you may have about the Equifax data breach and its effect on your personally identifiable information. You may call them at 866-447-7559.

    ¹ IDProtect® service is a personal identity theft protection service available to Cobalt Checking account owner(s) and their family. Family includes: Spouse, persons qualifying as domestic partner, and children under 25 years of age and parent(s) who are residents of the same household. IDProtect® benefits are available to joint account holders (unless otherwise noted). Benefits are not available to a “signer” or “beneficiary” of the account who is not an account holder. Service is not available to businesses and their employees, clubs and/or church and their members, schools and their employees/students.
    ² Identity Theft Insurance is underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates  of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available for all jurisdictions.

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