Welcome to Valley Banks Website
Consumers Beware!
Valley Bank cares about current issues and its customers. With it being tax season we would like to inform you of some NEW scams including IRS and VISA scam emails. Please click for more information.
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the nation. Consumers need to protect themselves, but how? One of the major avenues for identity theft is through what is popularly called "phishing".
Phishing is where scammers (crooks) get you to give them your personal information by mimicking a company that you may already do business with and inventing a reason that they need your information. These attempts can be very convincing. They can get your personal information from sending these e-mails that look like they are from legitimate companies. Other times they make phone calls and pretend to be from legitimate companies.
The link below gives some valuable information on helping you protect yourself from these attacks. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt127.pdf
Another very common scam is counterfeit cashiers check scams. Many of them contact you (the consumer) with great news, “You’ve won the Lottery” or a sweepstakes etc. They usually send you what looks like an authentic cashier’s check, sometimes with instructions to wire some of the funds back or to call after you have deposited the funds.
The money they want back is supposedly to cover taxes and fees or something of that nature. The problem is that the check you deposited is counterfeit and you won’t know it until it is too late. Counterfeit items can take weeks to be returned to your bank. At that time the check is deducted from your account and the scammers hope that you have already sent them the funds from the check so you now owe the bank the balance of the counterfeit item.
There are some different variations to these scams and some good information provided by the link below. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre40.shtm
Please take the time to inform your self and protect your identity, your money and your financial future. The damage done to your reputation and your credit because of identity theft often takes years to repair.
Please see Disclaimer