If you know or suspect that an unauthorized party has your personal/private information, such as information relating to or which can be used to access your financial accounts, funds or assets, such as your bank, credit card, debit card, or investment account numbers or statements or any passwords or security codes, then you should take the following actions.

Be vigilant over the next 24 months and promptly report to your financial institution/company any incidents of suspected identity theft.

Review your account statements and immediately report to your financial institution/company any suspicious activity or unauthorized transactions.

Consider placing a fraud alert on your consumer/credit report by contacting one of the three nationwide credit bureaus/reporting agencies: Equifax, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com; Experian, 1-888-397-3742, www.experian.com; TransUnion, 1-888-909-8872, www.transunion.com.  You only need to contact one of the credit bureaus, as each of them are required to notify the others.  A fraud alert is free and can help notify your creditors and also make it harder for an identity thief to open accounts in your name.

Periodically obtain credit reports from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus/reporting agencies and have information relating to any fraudulent transactions deleted.  You may obtain credit reports free of charge (once every 12 months, upon request) from www.annualcreditreport.com, or by calling 1-877-322-8228, or by completing an Annual Credit Report Request Form and mailing it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, Georgia 30348-5281.

For information on what additional steps you can take to protect yourself against identity theft please visit the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website at www.identitytheft.gov.  Report incidents of identity theft to the FTC at www.identitytheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338.

To report a phishing and/or fraud attempt, contact us

• Don't let others use your computer.
• Be wary of unsolicited help offers regarding government payments, prizes, or transactions.
• Verify unknown communications claiming to be from your bank by calling their official number.
• Use strong antivirus and antispam software to block malicious software and phishing emails.
• Upgrade aging routers (typically 3 to 5 years) to a more recent model.

Verify suspicious communications claiming to be from CPB by calling our Customer Service Center at (808) 544-0500. If you suspect fraud, contact the bank immediately.

For additional fraud prevention tips, visit the FTC's website: FTC Fraud Prevention (https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0060-10-things-you-can-do-avoid-fraud).

• If you assist a criminal with money laundering you are committing a crime.
• Do not give money to or have financial dealings with someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never agree to be a money mule for someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never agree to open an account with or for someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never respond to online ads or phone offers to earn quick and easy money by assisting with money transfers.
• Never agree to receive and send money for someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never receive, deposit or cash checks from someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never wire or send money to someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never invest and send money to someone you meet online or over the phone.
• Never give your user name and password to anyone.
• Never give your personal or financial information to anyone.
• Use different user names and passwords for different applications.
• Change user names and passwords regularly.
• Never respond to emails from people you don’t know.
• Never open email attachments in emails from people you don’t know.
• Don’t be a victim.
• Don’t be an accomplice to a money crime.

Scammers know millions of people use online dating sites. They are there hiding behind fake profiles. 

Signs of a scam

• Professes love quickly. Claims to be overseas for business or military service.
• Asks for money, and lures you off the dating site.
• Claims to need money - for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel.  Plans to visit but can't because of an emergency. 

Learn more about online dating scams. 

Scammers will typically call, email, text or direct message consumers on social media, stating that they represent a government agency and that the consumer is in violation of some law and that immediate payment must be made to cure the violation, or, that the consumer is entitled to some benefit but must make an immediate payment to receive the benefit.  In some scams, the scammers will ask for the consumer’s personal information or financial account information in order to use the consumer’s identity to obtain government benefits or loans or to steal the consumer’s funds from their financial accounts.  Scammers often attempt to frighten and scare consumers into sending funds to avoid something bad happening, or to entice consumers into sending funds to get some benefit.  See further information on government imposter scams, here.

Criminals use money laundering techniques to conceal their identity, source, and destination of illicitly obtained money. To do this, they rely on often unsuspecting money mules to transfer proceeds from their crimes without being detected by law enforcement. Money mules are individuals who transfer illegally obtained money on behalf of others using bank accounts, wire transfers, money orders, or checks.
Learn more

Consumers are receiving text messages from fraudsters alerting the consumer about a suspicious financial transaction. Upon receiving a response text declining the transaction from the consumer, the fraudster calls the consumer, pretending to be the fraud department of the financial institution. The fraudster gains access to the consumer’s online banking account by requesting the username and password, which the fraudster then uses to reset the password. Upon gaining access to the online account, the fraudster proceeds to transfer, withdraw and steal the consumers’ funds in the account. Be aware of other common scams here.