HOULTON, Maine — Katahdin Trust, a community bank serving northern Maine and the greater Bangor and Portland regions, joined the American Bankers Association and banks across the nation to promote an industry-wide campaign educating consumers about the persistent threat of phishing scams.
The FTC estimates that consumers lost $3.3 billion to phishing schemes and other fraud in 2020, nearly double the losses in 2019. To combat phishing, the #BanksNeverAskThat campaign uses attention-grabbing humor and other engaging content to empower consumers to identify bogus bank communications asking for sensitive information like their passwords and social security numbers.
“It’s essential for customers to filter the amount of personal information they choose to reveal over the phone, through email, or online,” explains Andrew Putnam, vice president, chief information officer at Katahdin Trust. “Never give out your social security number, birthdate, account number, or password unless you initiated the conversation to someone that you are certain is legitimate.”
“Phishing attempts have become even more prevalent during the pandemic making it more important than ever that consumers learn how to spot a scam,” said Paul Benda, senior vice president, operational risk and cybersecurity at ABA. “With help from participating banks like Katahdin Trust, we’re teaching consumers how to spot phishing red flags so they can stay one step ahead of the scammers.”
Katahdin Trust, along with banks across the country and ABA, kicked off the campaign on Oct. 1 to mark the beginning of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Throughout the month Katahdin Trust will share eye-catching and engaging short videos, animated GIFs and consumer tips on social media designed to highlight common phishing schemes. Katahdin Trust will also send a reminder in customers’ October statement along with a printed flyer. Because cybersecurity education and fraud awareness can often be dull and forgettable to many consumers, the campaign is designed to be bright and bold with a bit of comedy.
“Chicago Deep Dish or New York Style?” one of the campaign’s animated GIFs asks social media users. “#BanksNeverAskThat. They won’t open an email with ‘Hello Customer,’ either. That’s a scam. Think you can spot a scam when you see it? Prove it with this new phishing quiz from the American Bankers Association.”
The campaign’s short videos offer similarly ridiculous questions that banks would never ask and direct consumers to BanksNeverAskThat.com for more information. At that website, consumers will find the #BanksNeverAskThat quiz, videos, phishing red flags, tips and FAQs.
For more information about phishing scams and how to stop fraudsters in their tracks, visit www.BanksNeverAskThat.com.
