Cell Phone Alert

First Northern Bank & Trust wants to make you aware of the latest scam as a reminder to never supply your confidential account information, such as your pin and debit card numbers or your checking account number, or any other personal data for that matter, to a random inquiry from an e- mail or by telephone. Your best defense against identity theft is to respond to such inquiries only with persons you know and trust.

Our employees will never call customers via telephone or cell phone to request personal information such as bank account numbers, debit or credit card numbers, expiration dates or personal identification numbers unless a customer initiates the call.

Telephone/Cell phone phishing scams can occur. If you are contacted, here is what you might expect:

• You might receive a phone call stating that he/she is a representative of the bank or is calling for security reasons because a credit or debit card is locked and needs to be reactivated.
• The calls originate from an automated phone system where individuals are directed to re-activate their card by pressing the #1.
• When you press #1, an automated system also answers this call, and it will ask you for a card number, expiration date and personal identification number.
• Callers typically dial random telephone numbers.

If you receive a call of this nature, please hang up. Do not provide any information. If you receive this type of phone call, and have inadvertently given out personal financial information, please contact your local branch.

Cell phone texting scams can occur. If you are contacted, a typical text message may include the following:

• You might receive a text message stating that your bank or another business needs debit or credit card information to provide maintenance on your card or account.
• You might receive a general text message asking for bank account information.
• The messages originate from an automated phone system.
• Callers typically text to random telephone numbers.

If you receive a text message of this nature, please do not provide any information. In the event that you inadvertently gave out personal bank account information, please contact your local branch.