GENERAL PRIVACY
ONLINE PRIVACY
SECURITY INFORMATION

 

GENERAL PRIVACY POLICY

We have always recognized that having your trust is an honor, and that we have an obligation to protect that trust. We therefore want you to understand our policies and practices relative to our collection, use, retention, and security of nonpublic personal information about you. To assist in explaining our policies and practices, you should know the meanings of the following terms:

• Nonpublic personal information means information about you that we collect in connection with providing you with financial products or services that are to be used primarily for personal, family or household purposes. Nonpublic personal information does not include information that is available from public sources, such as telephone directories or government records;
• An affiliate is a company we control, that controls us or is controlled by the same company that controls us; and
• A non-affiliated third party is a company that is not an affiliate of ours.

Meeting Your Expectations

We understand your desire for privacy. That is why we endeavor to safeguard your nonpublic personal information. We will not share nonpublic personal information about you with any non-affiliated third party, except as explained in this Customer Privacy Disclosure.

Information We Collect

As part of providing you with financial products or services, we may collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:

• applications, forms and other information that you provide to us, whether in writing, in person, by telephone, electronically or by any other means;
• your transactions with us, non-affiliated third parties or others; and
• consumer reporting agencies.

What We Do With The Information We Collect

We use the nonpublic personal information about you that we collect to better serve you by providing you with improved services.

What We Don't Do With The Information We Collect

We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our customers or our former customers to anyone, except as permitted by law.

When We Work With Third Parties

We may disclose all of the information we collect, as described above, to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf or to other financial institutions with which we have joint marketing agreements, such as marketing companies that perform marketing services on our behalf, and credit card/debit card issuers, securities broker-dealers and insurance agents with which we have joint marketing agreements.

Our Security Practices and Information Accuracy

We take steps to safeguard nonpublic personal information about you. We limit access to nonpublic personal information about you to our service providers and employees who use that information to provide products or services to you or to maintain or service those products or services.

We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard nonpublic personal information about you.

Respecting the privacy of our customers has long been our tradition. We will strive to maintain this trust with you now and in the future. While we continue to grow in our community, our tradition of trust with your privacy will remain of the utmost importance to us.

 

ONLINE PRIVACY

At Benjamin Franklin Bank, we have always recognized that having your trust is an honor, and we have an obligation to protect that trust. We also are aware of the responsibility we have in providing the financial products and services that will help you attain your financial goals. In order to offer you these products and services, we must collect information about you. Therefore, we have provided the Bank's policies and practices relative to the protection of personal information you provide to us through our web site or Internet Banking service. This level of respect will continue even after accounts have been closed.

Web Site

Any time you visit our web site; information is collected solely for statistical purposes and to determine visitor access to restricted areas on our site. It is not used to identify individuals nor is it shared with third parties. The following information is collected and stored:

• Access date and time
• IP address
• Browser type
• PC operating system platform
• URL refer site
• Date/time stamps for all activity
• Action performed (web page requests)

Online Banking

Anytime you connect to our Online Banking service, information is gathered for several reasons, such as, authenticating the user and to analyze performance measures to ensure successful transmissions of requests. The following information is collected and stored:

• User name
• Password
• Failed log-on attempts
• Return codes
• Size of message element

"Cookies"

Once a customer has signed into the Online Banking service and his or her User ID and password have been validated, session management information that is stored on the customer's PC is maintained. This data element, called a "cookie," is stored in the computer browser's memory. Cookies provide added convenience to you by allowing you to personalize your sessions, register your computer and provide non-personal information to us to allow us to understand and respond to our market. Similarly, session variables may be used on some of our pages in order to store your preferences or access information during a particular session. We do not use cookies or session variables to retrieve any information from your computer that you have not explicitly revealed. Cookies and session variables are commonly used on web sites and do not harm your system. You may disable them by making the appropriate selection from your browser options. If you do, you should know that you will be unable to use some of our online services.

E-mail

If you send us e-mail, we may also retain the content of the e-mail and your e-mail address, in order to respond to questions or concerns that you may have expressed. E-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. Therefore, if your communication to us is very sensitive such as account, credit card or social security number, you may want to call us or send it by regular mail instead.

Security

We maintain security standards and procedures to help prevent unauthorized access to confidential information about you. In terms of web site security, there is a substantial range of Internet security measures, such as encryption utilizing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology as well as, routers and firewalls that act as barriers between the outside world and the internal bank network.

Links to Other Web Sites

Benjamin Franklin Bank is not responsible for the content of other web sites that may be accessed through links we provide. When you visit these sites, you do so at your own risk and you are no longer at www.BankWithBen.com. We make no warranty concerning the level of security, privacy, or content of such sites, including accuracy, completeness, reliability or timeliness. You should review the privacy policy of any website you access before you provide personal information.

 

LINKS TO OTHER SITES

Benjamin Franklin Bank will NEVER ask for personal confidential information via email.
Please refer to our page on Protecting your Personal Information.

Benjamin Franklin Bank is not responsible for the content of other web sites that may be accessed through links we provide. When you visit these sites, you do so at your own risk and you are no longer at www.BankWithBen.com We make no warranty concerning the level of security, privacy, or content of such sites, including accuracy, completeness, reliability or timeliness. You should review the privacy policy of any website you access before you provide personal information.

Benjamin Franklin Bank will never ask you to send personal or financial information by, in response to, or via a link in an e-mail.

Your personal information is safe with us.

 

WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?

Armed with a piece or two of your vital personal information, a criminal can access and drain your financial accounts, open new accounts or apply for loans and credit cards under your name, and perhaps even have your mail routed to him or her. This type of fraud has increased dramatically in recent years.

TO HELP AVOID IDENTITY THEFT, YOU CAN FOLLOW THESE TIPS TO SECURE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION:

1. Never give out your Social Security number or personal credit information over the phone unless you initiate the call.
2. Change your license number from your Social Security number to an "S" number.
3. Tear up or shred the following:
   • Cancelled or expired ATM, credit or debit cards.
   • Any unused checks from a closed Bank account.
   • Any unused credit card offers.
4. Review your credit report annually. Report and correct mistakes.
5. Make sure you do business with reputable companies, especially on the Internet.
6. Don't open e-mail from unknown sources.
7. Use virus detection software.
8. Protect your passwords and PINs.
9. Keep copies of everything.
10. Never respond to an email requesting sensitive personal information.
11. Be cautious of hypertext links that bring you to web sites that may appear to be legitimate.
12. Report any suspected fraud to us and local law enforcement immediately, and notify the fraud division of one of the three major credit bureaus:
    • Transunion 800.680.7289
    • Experian 800.397.3742
    • Equifax 800.525.6285

EMAIL FRAUD: PHISHING AND OTHER FINANCIAL SCAMS:

Phishing: Criminals have gone "phishing." This is the act of sending pretext emails to unsuspecting recipients who may think it is an email from their own bank or credit card company referencing problems with an account or some situation requiring a fast response. The emails are random, but sending millions increases the likelihood that the scammers will reach some consumers who do business with the purported bank. The email or its links will use the bank's logo and other graphics to give the impression that it is actually the bank sending the email, or "spoofing" it. The communication will then include a request to "verify" social security, account numbers, passwords, or other personal information. Don't provide it. Your bank or Credit Card Company knows this information and does not need to ask you for it. This is a scam. A newer variation of this practice attaches "spyware" to your computer, which can record keystrokes and other activity.

Website Spoofing: This malicious act can take several forms but one of the most common vulnerabilities can occur when you make a mistake or a misspelling while typing in your bank's website address. The site where you are directed may look just like your bank's Web site, but it is not. If you make this mistake, the password and account information you provide thereafter could be stolen and put your bank accounts at risk. Best advice: Be sure the address is correct before you press the "enter" button or bookmark the correct address.

The Advance Fee Scam and Variations: There are numerous variations to this con and fraud, but each has one thing in common: they ask consumers to advance some form of money or personal financial information. Don't do it. Here are a few of the variations:

Your Internet Ad: This scheme often involves a legitimate ad that you place on the Internet, perhaps trying to sell a car, electronics or any pricey item. Someone responds and cites complications with currency exchange or shipping costs, and sends you a check for more than the selling price of the item you are selling. After depositing the cashier's check, you are then instructed to keep a portion of the extra money and wire or send a check for what's left of the overpayment to the buyer's agent/shipper. After you wire the money out of your account you may find that the check you received and deposited was counterfeit. An important rule: If you're selling something, funds should be moving only in one direction - to you. And make sure, after depositing a check and before you release the goods, that your bank has the funds. Don't simply ask if the check has cleared, verify that the funds are in your account by asking, "Have the funds been 'finally collected?' " A better rule of thumb: If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Another warning: A similar fraud using a counterfeit cashier's check can also occur after an online auction.

Foreign Emails: There are many email messages circulating on the Internet that ask for your cooperation to move a large sum of money out of another country - all of them are scams. The scammers pose as bankers, chief auditors, chief security officers, remittance officials, directors of finance, directors of government or bank contract award divisions - all stating they have access to unclaimed funds, generally inactive or delinquent accounts, with millions waiting to be claimed. Others say they are kin to family members who died natural deaths but unexpectedly, or their relatives were killed in assassinations, military coups, or plane crashes. In all of these bogus scenerios, the deceased was rich and a letter writer needs help getting the dead relative's vast fortune out of the country due to local snafus or bureaucracy. Individuals are asked to provide funds to cover various fees and for personal identifiers, such as social security numbers, bank account numbers and other similar data. Often they start out by just asking for your phone or FAX number and then in subsequent communications they ask for your bank account number to wire-in the alleged funds. Don't give them anything. Money will be wired out of your account. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Prizes, Trips, Lottery Winnings: This bogus communication can come to you via email, the U.S. Postal Service or over the telephone. There are numerous variations but, again, what they have in common is a request for you to advance funds to receive your prize. The scammers claim you have won the Canadian or some other lottery, you have won a trip or some other windfall and all you have to do is advance a "handling" fee to the sponsor or provide your bank account number. Don't do it. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Computer Viruses: Of all Internet frauds, this one is perhaps the most insidious. You receive an email, perhaps with an attachment titled "I love you," or "call me," or just about anything that piques your curiosity. When you open the email, it attaches a small virus or "keylogger" inside your computer that records keystrokes, log-in names and passwords. And it does so without you knowing it. After you have visited 20 or 30 online banking or financial Web sites, it emails that information back to the criminal sponsor. Best advice: Don't open email from unknown senders.

Credit and Job Applications: If you see a credit offer or a job posting online, you can fill out an application or send in a resume. However, don't respond if it asks you for your social security number, bank account information, or other personal info. These can be provided later after you have established contact by phone, mail, or in person with the companies and have verified they are legitimate. Otherwise, you could be providing personal information that could result in the draining of your bank account or the theft of your identity.

Banks and law enforcement officials are making strides to catch many of these criminals but they won't be effectively deterred until more people are aware of the scams. If you spot suspicious activity, report it to your bank immediately and place a call to your local police. You can ask them if you should also report it to the FBI or Secret Service. Moreover, it's never been more important to check your statement each month and report irregularities to your bank. Consumers have numerous consumer protections when fraud occurs, but many can work only if the activity is reported in a timely fashion.

Message brought to you by the Benjamin Franklin Bank and the Massachusetts Bankers Association.

For more information visit www.massbankers.org.