Premier Bank joins national anti-phishing campaign

Financial scams are rampant across the internet and if you're not careful, you could become a victim with an email and just the click of your mouse.

To stop that here in the valley, Premier Bank has joined the American Bankers Association and other national banks to promote #BanksNeverAskThat, an industry-wide campaign aimed at educating consumers about the threat of phishing scams.

Phishing scams are when criminals send emails or text messages with seemingly harmless links leading to a trust-worthy internet service provider, a bank or a mortgage company asking for personal information.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a then scammer uses the information to open new accounts or invade the consumer’s existing accounts. 

It gets its name because its similar to the act of fishing, where someone throws a lure out to the water multiple times in the hopes of attracting an unsuspecting fish.

The FTC estimates that consumers lost $8.8 billion to phishing and other fraud in 2022, an increase of more than 65% compared to 2021.

"Education and awareness are key to helping our clients spot a scam," said Tina Shaver, executive vice president at Premier. "Here at Premier Bank, we invest in state-of-the-art systems, services and processes that protect our clients' personal and financial information. We want to be a resource for education for our clients and through the #BanksNeverAskThat campaign, we are able to provide resources on how to recognize and avoid phishing scams so clients can stay one step ahead of the scammers."

The campaign hopes to capture peoples attention through humor and other means to highlight how criminals impersonate banks.

Throughout the month, Premier Bank will share eye-catching questions, videos and consumer tips on social media designed to highlight the most common phishing schemes. 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.

October marks National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.