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Wire transfer fraud is on the rise with criminals targeting unsuspecting businesses with increasingly sophisticated email phishing scams. Fortunately, you can reduce the risk to your business by adopting some easy-to-follow procedures.
How wire fraud works
A common scam involves criminals attempting to defraud businesses by impersonating company executives, partners, or representatives of trusted vendors through email. This is how the scam works:
What to do if you suspect wire fraud
If your business is a target of wire transfer fraud, immediately contact your California Bank & Trust branch or call (800) 254-2265, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time, excluding federal holidays. (Select 0 to speak to a customer service representative).
After you notify us of a possible wire transfer fraud, we will attempt to recover the transferred funds. However, funds transferred by wire are typically available for withdrawal as soon as they enter the recipient's account, so it is possible you will not recognize the fraud until it is too late.
Remember, when CB&T receives wire instructions from an authorized employee, through online banking, or another legitimate wire request process, the bank is not responsible for covering any losses.
Four steps to help protect your business
Adopting these four best practices— and making them part of your company's training and policies—will help prevent wire fraud:
Additional protection against online fraud
To help mitigate the risk of wire fraud and other cybercrimes, download IBM® Security Trusteer Rapport® software free of charge. This software application works with your antivirus software to add an extra level of security to help prevent fraudulent transactions.