Part of our role is to make sure that we maintain the safest and most secure channel for you to manage your finances, and in an effort to constantly improve that security we recently added an additional feature to our site. Some of you may have noticed it, most of you probably did not, but there is a new image at the bottom of 1stMarinerBank.com with Cyveillance written across it. You’re probably asking, “how does that little image make the site more secure?” Well, that small seal allows us to protect you – the best customers in the whole world – from ‘phishing’ scams.
Not familiar with the term phishing? As defined by the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) phishing is an attack in which an electronic identity is misrepresented in an attempt to trick individuals into revealing personal credentials that can be used fraudulently against them. In other words, it’s when hackers us malicious tactic’s to trick users into giving up their personal data. One way to accomplish this is by ‘spoofing’or copying a site to make it look like a legitimate site.
Still a little confused? Let’s draw up a scenario. You decide to visit 1stMarinerBank.com – because it’s the coolest site out there – to check your finances or read this awesome blog. You arrive on a site that you believe is 1stMarinerBank.com. Suddenly, the site prompts you to input your personal information for what sounds like a legitimate reason. You enter in your information and the site allows you to proceed further. What has just happened is that your information was harvested by a false site made to look like 1st Mariner’s.
How did that happen? There are several ways and most of them are due to malicious code being placed on your computer by unsecured downloads. Unfortunately, companies such as Western Union, AOL, SunTrust, eBay, Amazon, Paypal, Earthlink, and Citibank have all had their customers fall victim to this crime.
So how does that image protect you from such scams? The Cyveillance image is part of a larger service that we subscribe to that monitors the web for any potential phishing threats to 1stMarinerBank.com. Not only are we alerted but if you come to our site and do not see the Cyveillance seal than there is a possibility that you may be on a spoofed site.
Remember, we will never prompt you for any personal information on our site. If you are unsure about the site you are on or have a question, do not hesitate to call, email, or chat online with our customer service department.
Customer Service: 410-558-4200, email, or chat online