'Phishing' for Your Identity

One of the newest ways of scamming on the Internet is 'phishing' (pronounced 'fishing'). Phishing occurs when scammers create duplicates of an existing Web site and try to fool a user into submitting personal, financial, or password data. They imitate legitimate companies in e-mails to entice you to share account numbers, passwords, credit card or Social Security numbers, then use that information to open credit card accounts and make other financial transactions in your name.

'Spoofing' is the practice of changing the sender's name in an e-mail so that it looks like the message came from somewhere or someone else…oftentimes, from an address that looks familiar or 'harmless' to you. E-mail spoofing is used by spammers as a means of preventing you from finding out who they are and is generally used for malicious purposes.

To help prevent against becoming a victim of fraud, remain alert for e-mail scams such as these, as everyone is subject to receiving them. Never respond to requests for personal information unless the request is initiated by you and only then in a secure environment.

When in doubt -- doubt! If you are unsure about an e-mail communication, contact the company via a telephone number or address that you know to be genuine. And if at any time you feel your personal information may have been compromised, call the bank right away. There are steps we can take to protect you and your identity.

To customers of Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, please remember-our employees would never contact you to ask for your account number, social security number, pin numbers or other personal information via the Internet or telephone and would never ask you to divulge personal information through e-mail, which is insecure. If you are contacted by anyone in this way, do not reply and contact us immediately at 800-564-2735.