Where other banks have branches, we have our roots.

bestbank.us

Security Tips

Greensburg State Bank has held true to the principle of integrity for many generations. Our slogan for the last 60 years has been "a good bank in a good town." We appreciate your business and will do our best to fulfill your banking needs. You can have confidence that we place the utmost importance on protecting your privacy and securing your sensitive information.

• Identity Theft - Identity theft occurs when your personal information is used by someone else to open new accounts or initiate transactions in your name. Identity theft occurs through a number of ways offline - from stealing wallets and purses, intercepting and rerouting mail or rummaging through garbage. In addition there are numerous online and electronic means that fraud artists use to attempt to steal your identity.
  
• E-mail or Online Fraud - Offenders can also obtain personal information via online such as phishing and spoofing. With phishing and spoofing, an e-mail is forged and it appears as if it came from someone other than the actual source. The e-mail message may direct you to a web site that looks just like the legitimate source's web site, but isn't. In some cases, the e-mail or pop-up messages are used to deceive you into disclosing sensitive personal information so that the offender may use your information to make fraudulent purchases, access your accounts or steal your identity. What is Phishing?
• Skimming - Skimming which occurs when your credit or debit card account information is captured in a data storage device, is a practice offenders employ to create counterfeit credit or debit cards from your account information. Your card may be swiped first for an actual purchase, and then swiped again into a small hand-held device called a skimmer, or a skimmer may be attached to an ATM machine or unattended gas pump where you swipe your card or enter your card information.
• Scams - You should also be aware of other online and mail scams. As a general rule, if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is, so be aware!
• Nigerian Scam - Fraudsters have been sending out letters inviting individuals to participate in a scheme that ultimately turns out to be non-existent. Usually the letters purport to be from a government official who needs help in distributing millions of dollars out of the country in return for a cut of the money. Recipients of the letters are required to divulge bank account details and forward thousands of dollars in "advance fees"
• Selling goods - You sell goods in the marketplace - for example, over the Internet. A buyer sends you a cashier's check for the price that you have agreed on, and you ship the goods to be buyer. The cashier's check turns out to be fraudulent.
• Unexpected windfall - You receive a letter informing you that you have the right to receive a substantial sum of money. For example, the letter may state that you have won a foreign letter or are the beneficiary of someone's estate. The letter will state that you have to pay a processing/transfer tax or fee before you receive the money, but a cashier's check will be enclosed to cover that fee. The letter will ask you to deposit the cashier's check into your account and wire the fee to a third party, often in a foreign country. The cashier's check turns out to be fraudulent.
• Mystery Shopping - You receive a letter informing you that you have been chosen to act as a mystery shopper. The letter includes a cashier's check, and you are told to deposit the check into your account. You are told to use a portion of the funds to purchase merchandise at designated store, transfer a portion of the funds to a third party using a designated wire service company, and keep the remainder. The cashier's check turns out to be fraudulent.
• Scams also may involve other types of checks. For example, the fraudulent check may appear to be written on the account of a real person or company or be written on an account that contains insufficient funds to cover the check. Other scams involve fraudulent postal service money orders or fraudulent money orders that appear to have been issued by a bank.

The result of these scams is that the fraudulent check will be returned unpaid. The bank will then deduct the amount of the check from your account or otherwise seek repayment from you, and you will lose either the goods that you sold, the money that you sent to the third party, or both.

• What is a fraudulent cashier's check? A cashier's check is a check issued by a bank and payable to a specific person. Because a cashier's check is issued by a bank, itself, the cashier's check is paid by funds of the bank and not the depositor. Therefore, if an item is genuine, there is very little risk that the instrument will be returned.
  Sometimes, however, a cashier's check is not genuine, and if you unknowingly accept a fraudulent cashier's check in exchange for goods or services, YOU will likely be the one who suffers the financial loss.
• How can you tell if a cashier's check is fraudulent? It can be very difficult for either you or your bank to tell. When you deposit a check into your account, your bank generally is required by law to make the funds available within a specific period of time (usually, one business day for a cashier's check or other official instrument). This is true even if the check has not yet cleared through the banking system. Therefore, even if the funds have been made available in your account, you cannot be certain that the check has cleared or is "good."
  Your bank also may not be able to determine that the check is fraudulent when you deposit it. Rather, your bank may learn of the problem only when the check is returned unpaid by the other bank-which may take a couple weeks or more. Scammers try to make the item look genuine, which will delay discovery of the fraud. Once the item has been returned unpaid, your bank, generally, will be able to reverse the deposit to your account and collect the amount of the deposit from you.
• What are your rights? If you find yourself in this situation, you ordinarily would have a remedy against the person who wrote the check. However, you will have great difficulty pursuing any remedy against these scammers, especially if they reside in a foreign country or have disguised their identities.
What steps should you take to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraudulent cashier's check scams? Keep the following tips in mind. Tips for Avoiding Cashier's Check Fraud
• Try to know the people with whom you do business. When possible, verify information about the buyer from an independent third party such as a telephone directory. Be cautious about accepting checks - even a cashier's check - from people that you do not know, especially since it may be difficult to pursue a remedy if the transaction goes wrong.
• When you use the Internet to sell goods or services, consider other options such as escrow services or online payment systems rather than payment by a cashier's check.
• If you do accept a cashier's check for payment, never accept a check for more than your selling price if you are expected to pay the excess to someone else. Ask yourself why the buyer would be willing to trust you, who may be a perfect stranger, with funds that properly belong to a third party.
• A cashier's check is less risky than other types of checks only if the item is genuine. If you can, ask for a cashier's check drawn on a bank with a branch in your area.
• If you want to find out whether a check is genuine, call or visit the bank on which the check is written. That bank will be in a better position to tell you whether the check is one they issued and is genuine.
• Know the difference between funds being available for withdrawal from your account and a check having finally cleared. Your bank may be required by law to make funds available to you even if the check has not yet cleared. However, it could take several weeks to know if the check will clear or not.
Act with Caution
• Be wary of taking action before you can be sure that the payment you received is good.
• Be suspicious if someone insists that you send funds by wire transfer or otherwise pressures you to act quickly before you know the payment you received is good.
• If you receive a letter offering you a large sum of money for little effort other than sending a "processing" fee, remember: IF SOMETHING SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.
• Reject any offer that asks you to pay for a "prize" or "gift."
• Save your documents - you may need this paperwork is something goes wrong.
Please contact an employee at Greensburg State Bank for additional information.


Greensburg State Bank
240 South Main Greensburg, KS 67054 Phone: (620) 723-2131 FAX (620) 723-2611

email: gsb@bestbank.us
World Wide Web page:

bestbank.us

12/17/2008 dc