Consumer Alerts

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning about online rental scams to those looking for a place to live or vacation. Finding an apartment or house that is affordable and available to rent can often be a challenge. Scammers take advantage of this by creating fake online rental listings and posing as the landlord or rental company. To add legitimacy, they may copy information and photos from existing rental listings or use an appealing property address that is not actually for rent. To avoid this scam:Be skeptical of unusually low rent – scammers may use a price that […]

Your banker may ask you a few questions in confidence in an effort to keep you and all of our customers safe. Always remember, if you are being pressured to send money or to lie to your banker or the police about the circumstances, it is a scam. Cybercriminals are targeting local people and businesses with convincing and sophisticated schemes, and the best way to keep money out of the hands of a scammer is to stop the fraud before any money is sent. If you ever feel you may have fallen victim, please let us know right away. You […]

Local residents are receiving calls from fraudsters posing as bank employees asking for online banking, account and debit card information or to verify fake charges. If you are contacted asking for information about your MVSB accounts, please do not respond and call us directly for assistance. Communications from fraudsters can be convincing and they may even “spoof” the caller ID to appear as though the call is from a local bank number. Be wary of communication you aren’t expecting and remember, we will not ask for sensitive information via phone, email or text unless you have contacted us for support. […]

If you get an unusual pop-up message, call or email that your computer has been infected with a virus, it is a scammer posing as a tech support specialist from a legitimate company. Scammers attempt to access to your device with a false promise to fix “virus issues.” Clicking a link or allowing someone remote access to your device permits them to then install harmful malware or steal your personal information. AARP offers the following tips to protect yourself:Close out of a popup or browser, or reboot your computer if you can’t get rid of it. Never click on any […]

Consider this: You are purchasing a new property and have been emailing your lawyer to iron out the details. You get an email that you need to wire the $45,000 down payment. But it states the wire information previously sent to you has changed and you will need to wire the money to a different account. The email address seems legitimate based on previous communications, so you wire the money. But the money is actually wired to a scammer and never seen again. So, what happened? A scammer has compromised the sender’s email account and has sent a message that […]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced the top scams of 2023. The report detailed that a record $10 billion was lost to scams last year, up $1 billion from 2022. Email was the primary contact method for scammers with imposter scams – where fraudster poses as your bank, a government agency, or a relative in distress, for example – claiming losses of $2.7 billion. The FTC also reported that younger adults were scammed most frequently, but older adults saw higher financial losses due to scams. One way to avoid becoming a victim is to stay informed about the latest […]

We have been alerted to scam text messages and phone calls posing as MVSB and other local banks. The message/caller may state that an account transfer has been scheduled for a large dollar amount and ask you to click on a link or provide confidential information, such as your account or card number or online banking credentials, to verify. Remember: Never click on a suspicious link you receive by text and do not provide with sensitive information in response to an unsolicited text or call. Doing so will put your phone, your accounts and your identity at risk. It’s easy […]