Consumer Alerts

FDIC Consumer Education January 26, 2006 – A new FDIC online tool was released to help educate consumers how to better protect their computers and themselves from identity theft, and steps to take if they have been victimized. The presentation: Don’t Be an On-Line Victim: How to Guard Against Internet Thieves and Electronic Scams is on the FDIC’s website.

PROTECTING YOURSELF
Chino Commercial Bank will never initiate a request for sensitive information from you (i.e., social security number, personal login ID, password, PIN or account number) nor ask you to verify account information via email. We strongly suggest that you do not share your personal login ID, password, PIN or account number with anyone, under any circumstances.
If you receive an email that requests this type of action, you should be suspicious of it and contact Chino Commercial Bank immediately. We also suggest you report suspicious emails or calls to the Federal Trade Commission through the Internet at www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT.

Ways to Protect Your Personal and Account Information

Never give your checking account, credit card or Social Security number to unknown callers or during telephone sales solicitations.
Never give out your automated teller machine (ATM), debit card or credit card personal identification number (PIN).
Never write your PIN on your ATM, debit card or credit card.
Review your Chino Commercial Bank statements promptly and report any discrepancies or suspicious transactions immediately.
Report lost or stolen checks, ATM cards or debit cards as soon as you discover they are missing.
Store your extra checks and deposit slips in a secure locked location and properly destroy cancelled checks. Never leave your checkbook in your vehicle.
Protect your ATM, debit card and credit card receipts. Some receipts may bear your account number.
Protect your checkbook and bank documents (including statements and cancelled checks) so they are not accessible to guests, contractors, repairmen, etc.
When you close a bank account, be certain to destroy or shred your excess supply of checks and deposit slips.
If your home is burglarized, check your supply of checks to determine if any have been stolen. Look closely, since thieves will sometimes take only one or two checks from the middle or back of the book, making it more difficult to determine that they are missing.
Purchase your checks and deposit slips from our approved check vendor to ensure quality of your check stock and the integrity of your account documents.
Do not share your login access code for Online Banking with third-party providers.
Always remember to clear your temporary Internet files or set your browser to “Empty Temporary Internet Files When the Browser is Closed”.

Ways to Protect Your Business and Account Information

Segregate financial responsibilities—do not have the same person balance the Bank statement and issue checks.
Regularly review your account activity and cancelled checks, especially if someone else reconciles your statement.
Secure all reserve supplies of checks, deposit slips and other banking documents in a locked compartment. Limit access to only a few authorized employees and change the locks when an employee leaves your company.
Conduct random audits (especially for employees who have access to the financial records and documents). If finances permit, use an electronic payment system for check disbursement rather than manually issuing checks.
Use a shredder to destroy all cancelled checks and financial data that is no longer needed.
Have your employees bonded, when appropriate.
Stay in touch with other businesses to share information regarding suspected fraud activity.
Purchase your checks and deposit slips from our approved check vendor to ensure the quality of your check stock and the integrity of your account documents.
Do not share your login access code for Online Banking with third-party providers.
Always remember to clear your temporary Internet files or set your browser to “Empty Temporary Internet Files When the Browser is Closed”.

Do Not Track Policy

Our policy is that we do not track or collect personally identifiable information from visitors to our website. Our website does not respond to “do not track” requests or similar browser requests. We use “cookies” to recognize if the computing device being used has visited our web page before, and as a part of our security interaction methodology. We also do not allow any third parties to track visits to our website.

What You Should Do If You Are a Victim

In the event you are a victim of fraud or burglary, there are a number of immediate steps you can take to help protect your personal and financial interests. These suggestions are general guidelines to assist you and not all-inclusive and should not be considered nor interpreted as legal, accounting or financial advice. The suggestions include:

Immediately contact Chino Commercial Bank and your credit card issuers so that the following can be done: Access to your accounts can be protected; stop payments placed on missing checks; PINs and Online Banking passwords changed and a new account opened where appropriate. Be sure to indicate to the Bank or issuer all the cards and/or accounts potentially impacted, including your ATM card, debit card and credit card. Also, ask the Bank associate assisting you to review all recent transactions on your accounts linked to those cards, including checking, savings, money market, credit, home equity, etc. Additionally, ensure that no one has requested an address change, title change, PIN change or ordered new cards or checks to be sent to another address. You can generally find Customer Service or Fraud Prevention contact telephone numbers and your account numbers on your monthly statements. Having this information handy will often facilitate your call.
File a police report with your local police department and provide the facts and circumstances surrounding your loss. Obtain a police report number with the date, time, police department, location and police officer taking the report or involved in the subsequent investigation.
Maintain a written chronology of what happened, what was lost and the steps you took to report the incident to the various agencies, banks and firms impacted. Be sure to record the date, time, contact telephone number, person you talked to and any relevant report or reference number and instructions.
Do a thorough review and inventory of bank activity and/or items that may have been stolen from you. If you later discover additional fraud items or missing articles, be sure to contact the respective police agency, bank, credit card issuer or commercial establishment and update your initial report.

In addition to reporting your situation to Chino Commercial Bank, credit card issuers and the local police department, remember to contact the following areas should these items be among your missing belongings:

Department of Motor Vehicles for the replacement of your driver’s license and vehicle registration.
Social Security Administration for the replacement of your Social Security card.
Voter’s registration office for the replacement of your voter’s registration card.
Various merchants who may have issued you a courtesy check-cashing card.
Various insurance companies for replacement of your Medicare card, prescription card, proof of homeowner’s, auto, medical insurance, etc.
Your employee identification card, security door access cards, special remote computer access passwords or tokens issued by your employer.

What You Should Do If Your Identity Is Stolen
If your name, account number or any form of personal identification has been used in a fraudulent scheme or transaction, you may wish to contact the appropriate agencies listed below:

Chino Commercial Bank
(909) 393-8880

Report any fraudulent activity on your deposit account, such as lost or stolen checks, and other unauthorized transactions found in your statement.

Credit Bureaus
Request a copy of your credit bureau report and look for unknown inquiries or approved credit. Request a statement be placed on your record that no further credit be approved unless you are contacted directly before approval is granted.

Equifax
P O Box 105069
Atlanta, GA 30349-5069
www.equifax.com
To order a report: (800) 685-1111
To report fraud: (800) 525-6285

Experian
P O Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013-0949
www.experian.com
To order a report: (888) 397-3742
To report fraud: (888) 397-3742

Trans Union
P O Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
www.transunion.com
To order a report: (800) 916-8800
To report fraud: (800) 680-7289

Merchant Check Guarantee First

Report any bank account set up fraudulently under your name to:

Telecheck (800) 366-2425
National Processing Company (800) 526-5380
SCAN (Deluxe) (800) 262-7771
CheckRite (800) 766-2748
CrossCheck (800) 552-1900
Market Block List (888) 567-8688

These agencies will place information in their system about checks that are reported as stolen or lost. They will also make note of accounts that were opened for the purpose of true name fraud. This information is then made available to merchants who subscribe to their service.

Fraudulent Charges on Your Credit Account
Report fraudulent charges on your Chino Commercial Bank credit card or contact the credit card issuers of cards in your name. Review your account activity to ensure there are no unauthorized transactions. If you subscribe to a credit card protection service, contact them to report any fraudulent or unauthorized transactions.

Social Security Services
Report victimization and improper use of your Social Security number to:
Social Security Hotline at (800) 269-0271
The Social Security Hotline allows a victim of identity theft to report misuse of a Social Security number. You may also visit your local Social Security Office to obtain further information.

U.S. Post Office and Local Police Departments
U.S. Postal Inspectors Office
Victims of fraud should contact their local post office to report any crime involving stolen mail or use of the mail in furtherance of a fraud scheme.

Local Police Departments
It is recommended that victims of identity theft file a police report with their local police department. Victims should keep a copy of the report for their records.

Department of Motor Vehicles
If your driver’s license is stolen, report the theft immediately to your local Department of Motor Vehicles. Ensure that a duplicate license was not recently issued in your name to an imposter.

Other Support Agencies
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
The FTC Consumer Response Center (877-FTC-HELP) maintains a program to assist victims of identity theft. The Center logs complaints and provides assistance and information to victimized consumers to rectify damage to their credit and personal reputation.

FTC SCAM ALERTS

Terms and Conditions for Consumers Only

Section II applies only to Consumer and Consumer Transactions.

A. Liability for Unauthorized Use

Tell us AT ONCE if you believe that your User ID, Password or Authentication Method has been lost or stolen. Telephoning is the best way of keeping your possible losses down. You could lose all of the money in your account (plus your maximum overdraft line of credit if you have one).

If you tell us within two (2) business days, you can lose no more than $50.00 if someone used your User ID, Password and Authentication Method without your permission. If you do NOT tell us within two (2) business days after you learn of the loss or theft of your User ID, Password and Authentication Method, and we can prove that we could have stopped someone from using the User ID, Password and Authentication Method without your permission if you had told us, you could lose as much as $500.00.

Also, if your statement shows transfers that you did not make, tell us at once. If you do not tell us within 60 days after the statement was mailed to you, you may not get back any money you lost after the 60 days if we can prove that we could have stopped someone from taking the money if you had told us in time.

If a good reason (such as a long trip or hospital stay) kept you from telling us, we may extend the time periods.

B. Error Resolution

Telephone us at (909) 393-8880 or write to us at 14245 Pipeline Avenue Chino CA 91710, as soon as you can, if you think your statement is wrong or if you need more information about a transfer listed on the statement or receipt.

We must hear from you no later than 60 days after we sent the first statement on which the problem or error appeared.

Tell us your name and account number (if any).
Describe the error or the transfer you are unsure about, and explain as clearly as you can why you believe it is an error or why you need more information.
Tell us the dollar amount of the suspected error.

If you tell us verbally, we may require that you send us your complaint or question in writing within 10 business days.

We will determine whether an error occurred within ten (10) business days after we hear from you and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to forty-five (45) days to investigate your complaint or question. If w e decide to do this , we will credit your account within ten (10) business days for the amount you think is in error, so that you will have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation. If we ask you to put your complaint or question in writing and we do not receive it within ten (10) business days, we may not credit your account.

For errors involving new accounts, point-of-sale, or foreign-initiated transactions, we may take up to ninety (90) days to investigate your complaint or question. For new accounts, we may take up to twenty (20) business days to credit your account for the amount you think is in error.

We will tell you the results within three (3) business days after completing our investigation. If we decide that there was no error, we will send you a written explanation. You may ask for copies of the documents that we used in our investigation.

C. Preauthorized Payments

Right to Stop Payment and the Procedure for Doing So: If you have told us in advance to make regular preauthorized payments out of your account, you can stop any of these preauthorized payments. Here’s how: Call us at (909) 393-8880 or write to us at 14245 Pipeline Avenue Chino CA 91710, in time for us to receive your request three (3) business days or more before the payment is scheduled to be made. If you call, we may also require you to put your request in writing and get it to us within fourteen (14) days after you call. We will charge you $15.00 for each stop payment order you give.
Notice of Varying Amounts: If these regular payments may vary in amounts, the person you are going to pay will tell you, ten (10) days before each payment, when it will be made and how much it will be (you may choose instead to get this notice only when the payment would differ by more than a certain amount from the previous payment, or when the amount would fall outside certain limits that you set).
Liability for Failure to Stop Payments of Preauthorized Transfers: If you order us to stop one of these payments three (3) business days or more before the transfer is scheduled, and we do not do so, we will be liable for your losses or damages proximately caused by us.
Preauthorized Payments: If you have arranged to have direct deposit made to your account at least once every sixty (60) days from the same person or company, you can call us at (909) 393-8880 to find out whether or not the deposit has been made.
Periodic Statements: You will get a monthly account statement (unless there are no transfers in a particular month). In any case you will get a statement at least quarterly.

D. Financial Institution’s Liability

If we do not complete a transfer to or from your account on time or in the correct amount according to our agreement with you, we will be liable for your losses or damages proximately caused by us. However, there are some exceptions. For instance, we will not be liable:

If, through no fault of ours, you do not have enough money in your account to make the transfer.
If the transfer would go over the credit limit on your overdraft line (if any).
If the System wasn’t working properly, and you knew about the breakdown when you started the transfer.
If circumstances beyond our control (such as fire or flood) prevent the transfer, despite reasonable precautions that we have taken.
If there are other exceptions stated in our agreement with you.

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

We do not knowingly collect or use personal information from children under 13 without obtaining verifiable consent from their parents. We recognize that protecting children’s identities and privacy online is important and that the responsibility to do so rests with both the online industry and with parents. While Chino Commercial Bank works to protect your personal information, you also have responsibilities. We are not responsible for the data collection and use practices of non-affiliated third parties to which our websites may link.

Internet safety for children – The internet is a public network. Children’s access to the Internet can allow them to visit inappropriate websites and be exposed to unwanted risks. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), protects children under the age of 13 from the online collection of personal information. Learn more about COPPA on the Federal Trade Commission’s website. Parents can be proactive by installing filtering software that gives them more control over their family’s Internet experience.

Cyber ethics for children – Cyber ethics is the practice of being a good citizen on the Internet superhighway. Kids should understand the rules of the road, too. Learn more by visiting the U.S. Department of Justice’s kids and youth website.
Tips to Avoid Phishing, Spyware and Malware

Do not open e-mail from unknown sources. Be suspicious of e-mails purporting to be from a financial institution, government department, or other agency requesting account information, account verification, or banking access credentials such as usernames, passwords, PIN codes, and similar information. Opening file attachments or clicking on web links in suspicious e-mails could expose your system to malicious code that could hijack your computer.
Never respond to a suspicious e-mail or click on any hyperlink embedded in a suspicious e-mail. Call the purported source if you are unsure who sent an e-mail.
If an e-mail claiming to be from your financial organization seems suspicious, checking with your financial organization may be appropriate.
Install anti-virus and spyware detection software on all computer systems. Free software may not provide protection against the latest threats compared with an industry standard product.
Update all of your computers regularly with the latest versions and patches of both anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
Ensure computers are patched regularly, particularly operating system and key application with security patches.
Install a dedicated, actively managed firewall, especially if using a broadband or dedicated connection to the Internet, such as DSL or cable. A firewall limits the potential for unauthorized access to your network and computers.
Check your settings and select, at least, a medium level of security for your browsers.
Clear the browser cache before starting an online banking session in order to eliminate copies of Web pages that have been stored on the hard drive. How the cache is cleared depends on the browser and version you are using. This function is generally found in the browser’s preferences menu.