Common Scams Online Identity Fraud / Phishing Online Identity Fraud also known as "Phishing" occurs when fraudsters pose as trusted organizations and send out thousands of fradulent emails to random email addresses. These emails usually contain a link to a look-alike website to mislead customers into entering sensitive financial information such as their account number and PIN. This will enable the fraudsters to capture the customer's account information to access the customer's bank accounts. If you suspect you've been sent a fraudulent email, contact your local Citibank customer service officer immediately or send us a secure mail after you sign on to Internet Banking. Our security team will investigate and work with the appropiate authorities to disable the fraudulent site as soon as possible. Do not input any sensitive information that might help provide access to your accounts, even if the website appears legitimate. Remember, Citibank will never send emails to customers to verify confidential, personal or account information. See some examples of fraudulent emails Protecting our customers and providing a secure online banking is a top priority for Citibank. Secured login After you sign on to Internet Banking, all confidential data sent between Citibank and your personal computer is "scrambled" and "reassembled" using 128-bit encryption, which is the industry standard. Only customers using their Citibank-issued card number and PIN/password will be able to access their accounts. A customer’s PIN/password must be entered every time he/she logs into Citibank. Automatic time out When there is no activity for several minutes, Citibank will terminate the customer’s secured Citibank Online session to help protect against unauthorized access. Automatic lock out If a PIN has been entered incorrectly a number of consecutive times, Citibank will lock any further online access to the accounts. If you have been locked out of your accounts due to incorrect PIN/password entry, contact your local Citibank customer service officer. Protection of Customer Information Citibank has in place stringent controls to protect the confidentiality of customer information Adherence to Regulatory Standards Citibank adheres to all information security and online banking regulations as set by the local and U.S. authorities to the extent required General Security Some of the most effective things you can do to protect yourself are simple to do. Here are some steps you should take. Disconnect from the Internet when not in use Do not share your Citicard number, credit card number, PINs and passwords Do not write any of these numbers, PINs or passwords and do not disclose it to anyone. Change your passwords on a regular basisAlso make sure you change your password after your first login. Choose strong passwords If you using a password to sign on, use a combination of lower & upper case letters, numbers and special characters for your passwords. Sign off. Don’t just close your browser Avoid banking online on a public/shared computer Set a screensaver password Log in regularly to monitor your transactions Be aware of your computer’s vulnerabilityTest your computer’s vulnerability to online threats regularly. Disable File & Print sharing If you are using Windows, ensure file & print sharing is disabled while online, particularly if you are linked to the Internet via any broadband connection, digital subscriber lines or cable modems. Click on to expand and on to minimise the details. What is a fraudulent email? A fraudulent email (a.k.a. spoofing, imposter, or phishing email) is one that has been forged so it looks like a legitimate email from a trusted source. This is done to trick users into providing sensitive personal information. It’s often hard to detect a fraudulent email because the email address of the sender can often appear genuine (such as support@citibank.com), as do the email design and graphics. But there are tell-tale signs to be aware of. For example, fraudulent emails often try to extract personal information from you in one of two ways : By luring you into providing it on the spot (e.g., by replying to the email) By including links to a site that tries to get you to disclose personal data. Has this happened at Citibank? Fraudulent emails claiming to be from Citibank have been reported. While they haven’t compromised Citibank’s systems in any way, we take these incidents seriously and work with law enforcement agencies to investigate them. If you receive a suspicious email, delete it immediately and notify your local Citibank customer service officer. See some examples of fraudulent emails How do I report a fraudulent email? Contact your local Citibank customer service officer if you suspect that an email claiming to be from Citibank is fraudulent. How can I be sure that I'm dealing with Citibank and not an imposter? You can tell that you're dealing with Citibank in two ways: Citibank will never send you an email asking for your password, credit card numbers, or other sensitive information. Citibank login pages are always on a webpage and never in a pop-up window. Beware of pop-up windows that ask for your account number and PIN. To ensure that you are going to an authentic Citibank site, type in entire Citibank website address into your browser instead of clicking on the link directly. How do I safely access Citibank Internet Banking? To ensure that you are going to an authentic Citibank site, type in entire Citibank website address into your browser instead of clicking on the link directly. For example, Singapore customers would type in "http://www.citibank.com.sg" into the browser address field. After clicking on the "login" button, verify the security of the site. This depends on the type of browser you use, Netscape 4.7 and IE 5.5 does this by showing a locked padlock. Microsoft Internet Explorer displays a lock on the status bar. Click on the unbroken lock icon on the bottom of your browser's bar. Proceed to sign on to Internet Banking only if the site shows you the Citibank certificate.