IMPORTANT NOTICE: Links to non-Wolverine Bank websites contained on this page are offered only as pointers to sources of information on subjects that may be of interest to users of our website, and Wolverine Bank is not responsible for the content of such sites as we have no control over what is displayed there. Wolverine Bank does not guarantee authenticity of documents at such sites and links to non-Wolverine Bank sites do not imply any endorsement or responsibility for the ideas, opinions, information, products, or services offered at such sites. Use of links to a non-Wolverine Bank site is solely at the user's own risk. Consumer AlertsCompromised Accounts
Wolverine Bank recently learned of a phishing scam that has resulted in confirmed fraud. The reported cases have involved a fraudulent email that appeared to be sent from the cardholder's financial institution that instructs the recipient to complete a survey to receive $50.00.
Upon completing the survey, a transaction, typically exceeding $1,000.00, was submitted from WESTERNUNION.COM to the cardholder's account. The initial transaction was denied; however, a subsequent attempt typically ranging from $200.00 to $800.00 was approved. In addition, the criminals may have other personal information about the cardholders and have fraudulently enrolled them in Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode, as evidenced by $1.00 authorized transactions.
Please be sure to review card activity and report any suspected fraud to Wolverine Bank. Remember that Wolverine Bank will never request financial information over the phone or email. No Wolverine Bank accounts have been affected by this.
Fraudulent Correspondence Claiming to Be From the FDIC
Fraudulent correspondence bearing the FDIC's name continues to be mailed, faxed and e-mailed. This correspondence is being used in illegal schemes to collect sensitive personal information, such as bank account numbers, and to steal money and other assets.
Further information is available here.
Wolverine Bank Spam
Wolverine Bank has noticed spam messages have started circulating that claim to originate from the wolverinebank.com domain. Please be aware that Wolverine Bank would not spam its customers or sell your email address to spammers.
NYCE Issues Phishing Alert
NYCE has issued an alert regarding a phishing attempt using their name. Please look here for the official information from NYCE. If you are contacted by NYCE regarding any account information, please call Wolverine Bank at (989) 631-4280.
NYCE Issues Phishing Alert
NYCE has issued an alert regarding a phishing attempt using their name. Please look here for the official information from NYCE. If you are contacted by NYCE regarding any account information, please call Wolverine Bank at (989) 631-4280.
FDIC ISSUES SPECIAL ALERT ON "PHISHING"
The FDIC has issued a special alert to insured banks on a widespread "phishing" e-mail scam that directs bank customers to what looks like the FDIC's authentic webpage. Persons are asked to provide sensitive financial and personal information. The alert is available at www.fdic.gov.
OTS Warning
The OTS has recently released new warnings about vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. You can stay ahead of the vulnerabilities by making sure that Microsoft Windows is up to date using Windows Update. Also please make sure to keep your firewall software and antivirus up to date.
Fraudulent E-mail Warning
We have learned that the ABA's ("American Bankers Association") name is being used in a phishing scam similar to ones that have affected FDIC and banks in recent months. Below is a sample of a fraudulent e-mail that was sent on March 19, 2004, purporting to be from the ABA. It is not. Its intent is to obtain sensitive personal and financial information from you and to then use this information to commit fraud. ABA has alerted the regulatory and law enforcement authorities about this scam.
From: American Bankers Association [service@aba.com]
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004
Subject: Please Read! Imporant Information About Your Credit Card And Its Issuing Bank!
Dear Sir/Madam,
You have been identified as a customer of one of ABA's ( American Bankers Association ) member banks. The American Bankers Association would like to inform You about the adoption of a decision of a new Security Policy. The new policy entered into force on 1st March 2004. Due to the extensive number of credit card frauds, ABA has decided to take preventice countermeasures in order to ensure the highest level of security and safety for the customers of its member banks....
Sincerely,
ABA Customer Service Staff
The e-mail continues to include a Credit Card Verification form, asking you to enter sensitive information. Do not respond to this fraudulent e-mail.
If you have received this e-mail or any e-mail from the "ABA" that you suspect is fraudulent, please forward the e-mail message to alert@aba.com. If you have responded to the message, we advise that you contact your financial institution.
FDIC Warning
Emails to financial institution customers that fraudulently claim to be from the FDIC attempt to obtain highly sensitive personal information, including bank account information. These emails falsely indicate that FDIC deposit insurance is suspended until the requested customer information is provided. More information can be found here.
Protect Your Wolverine Bank
Account
Use the following tips to protect your Wolverine Bank account:
- Safely access the Wolverine Bank website or your Wolverine Bank account by opening up a new web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: http://www.wolverinebank.com/13561.html.
- Never give out the following information in an email:
- First name, last name, business name
- Email and password combination
- Credit card, bank account, and PIN
- Social security and driver's license number
- Do not download attachments, software updates, or any aplication to your computer via a link you received in an email. Wolverine Bank will not ask you to download anything for your account to work.
- Chose a unique password and change it every 30-60 days.
Phishing Scams
A rapidly growing form of Internet fraud is a practice known as "phishing." The purpose of this is to familiarize you with the characteristics of phishing.
Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent email messages to addresses requesting them to supply confidential information. The message is most often mass-mailed or "spammed" to thousands of potential victims. The email is disguised to look like a request from a legitimate organization such as a bank or credit card company with which recipients may already have a business relationship. Messages purporting to be from eBay or PayPal are also very common. Often the message includes a warning regarding a problem related to the recipient's account and requests the recipient to respond by providing specific confidential information. The format of this email typically includes proprietary logos and branding, a "From" line disguised to appear as if the message came from a legitimate sender, and a link to a website or an email address. All of these features are designed to assure the recipient that the email is from a legitimate business source when in fact, the information submitted will be sent to the perpetrator.
Victims may be directed to provide personal account information by responding to the email, or they may be directed to click on a link that takes them to a legitimate looking webpage containing a form on which they are instructed to provide the information. Typically, the information requested includes items such as account numbers, passwords, PINs, Social Security numbers or other personal identifying information that will allow the perpetrator to gain access to the victim's accounts, steal the victim's identity, sell the information to others seeking to do the same, or all of these.
What Can You Do?
- Read the above information closely and fully understand the impact on yourself.
- Do no reply or click on links in emails such as described above. Instead, contact the company using a website address you KNOW to be genuine.
- Avoid emailing personal and financial information.
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them for unauthorized activity. Better yet, use any form of online banking to keep up-to-date on your accounts more frequently than monthly.
- Use virus protection software at home and make sure it is automatically kept up-to-date.
- Use a hardware or software-based firewall at home, and make sure it is automatically kept up-to-date.
- Use a spyware detection tool at home, and keep it up to date.
- Don't open unknown email attachements EVER.
- Don't run programs of unknown origin.
- Make regular backups of critical data.
- Keep all applications (including your operating system) patched.
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