U.S. Bank: A Partner in Account Protection

$5.9 billion in estimated 2013 phishing losses globally.
-RSA’s 2013: A Year in Review Report

9.5 billion phishing attacks were sent by email over a four-month period (July through October 2013).
-Microsoft Security Intelligence Report V16

Phishing is a social engineering approach used by criminals who pretend to be a trust-worthy entity in order to persuade their victims to share sensitive information such as user names, passwords, credit card details, or to download malware tools that can be used to steal credentials and financial information, or capture commercially sensitive data.

Recent examples include:

Public school officials in a Midwest state were sent targeted emails that impersonated the finance director in a money transfer request; a $163,500 transfer was prevented due to an inquiry by district’s bank and action by alert officials in the finance office.
20 employees of a for-profit medical group responded to criminals who sent information requests appearing to come from the group’s parent company. The employee responses exposed personal information of 8,300 patients to the criminals.

Over the past several months, the financial services industry has seen a growth in social engineering activities targeting businesses’ use of wire and ACH funds transfers and check payments. These fraud attempts have originated from increased foreign and domestic social engineering focused more on deceiving businesses’ employees and internal financial processes, rather than attacking the underlying financial technologies.

U.S. Bank Global Corporate Trust Services takes protecting our clients’ financial resources very seriously and we are vigilant in our efforts to try to prevent these illegal activities from impacting our clients. As your partner in protection, we work to help identify instances where fraudulent activity is being attempted, such as when a client’s email address or fax number is hacked and then used in an attempt to fraudulently withdraw funds or make unauthorized payment requests or when forged signatures are used on Client Payment Authorization forms.

Identifying the various types of scams that may impact our clients like those listed above is just one step in U.S. Bank’s efforts to help protect our clients’ assets.

Proactive Approach to Security

At U.S. Bank Global Corporate Trust Services, we continue to partner with our clients in helping to keep their funds safe from fraud. We have proactive procedures and controls in place to help detect and limit the impact of scams, including but not limited to:

Awareness of our clients’ usual activity levels.
Consistent utilization of our U.S. Bank Secure Email system for transmitting confidential client information.
Call-back processes and independent verifications conducted when new or altered wire instructions are requested.

We appreciate your cooperation when our controls are implemented as they are designed specifically to help us protect your funds and those of our other clients.

We encourage you to contact your U.S. Bank Global Corporate Trust Services account manager or trust finance management analyst if you have any reason to suspect you have been a victim of phishing or other scams. Let us be your partner in protecting your financial assets.

Information shared in this newsletter is not intended to supersede your existing IT, account management, and/or security processes, systems or policies in your workplace, or those of your current FI. Please consult your IT support and your FI providers for more assistance.

This newsletter outlines certain practices that businesses should consider to reduce the likelihood of loss caused by online fraud and identity theft. The content does not purport to identify all existing online fraud and identity theft practices and all fraud mitigation measures that your business should consider implementing. There is no way to guarantee that any set of protective measures will eliminate loss caused by online fraud and identify theft. U.S. Bank is not responsible for losses caused by online fraud and identity theft.

The information provided represents the opinion of U.S. Bank and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or guarantee of future results. It is not intended to provide specific investment advice and should not be construed as an offering of securities or recommendation to invest. Not for use as a primary basis of investment decisions. Not to be construed to meet the needs of any particular investor. Not a representation or solicitation or an offer to sell/buy any security. Investors should consult with their investment professional for advice concerning their particular situation. The factual information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness.

The articles and information included in this newsletter are for your information and are not intended as legal, accounting or tax advice. U.S. Bank and its representatives do not provide legal, accounting and/or tax advice. Clients are encouraged to contact their legal, accounting and/or tax advisor regarding their particular situation. While the information is intended to be accurate, neither U.S. Bank Global Corporate Trust Services nor the publisher accepts responsibility for relying on the information provided.