Industrial Bank Provides Notice of Data Security Incident

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IBW Financial Corporation d/b/a Industrial Bank ("Industrial Bank") today announced that a recent event may have impacted the security of information relating to its customers and employees. While Industrial Bank is unaware of any attempted or actual misuse of personal information in relation to the event, Industrial Bank provided potentially affected individuals with notice, information about the event and steps individuals could take to help protect their information.

On June 30, 2020, Industrial Bank became aware of suspicious activity related to employee email accounts. Industrial Bank immediately launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the activity and determined that the email accounts may have been subject to unauthorized access in June 2020. Following a thorough and time-consuming review of the contents of the affected accounts, which was completed on February 18, 2021, Industrial Bank determined that certain files stored within the affected email accounts that contain individuals' information were impacted. Although at this time there is no indication that individuals' information was subject to actual or attempted misuse, IBW is providing notice to all potentially affected individuals in an abundance of caution.

Industrial Bank determined that the type of information potentially impacted may vary by individual and that the following types of information may be impacted: name, contact information, Social Security number, driver's license number, credit card information and/or financial account information.

Information security is important to Industrial Bank, and we have strict security measures in place to protect information in our care. Upon discovering this incident, we immediately took steps to review and reinforce the security of our systems.  We are reviewing existing security policies and have implemented additional cybersecurity measures to further protect against similar incidents moving forward.   Additionally, Industrial Bank is providing potentially impacted individuals with complimentary access to identity monitoring, fraud consultation, and identity theft restoration services.

Industrial Bank encourages individuals to monitor their accounts and activate the complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services being offered. Please see the section below for more information. Individuals may call Industrial Bank's call center at 855-535-1875 (toll free), Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 9:00pm Eastern Time. Potentially affected individuals may also consider the information and resources outlined below.

Steps You Can Take to Protect Personal Information

Monitor Your Accounts

Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228.  You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report.

Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on a credit file at no cost.  An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file.  Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit.  If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years.  Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below.

As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a "credit freeze" on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer's express authorization.  The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.  However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.  Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report.  To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information:

Should you wish to place a fraud alert or credit freeze, please contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:

Additional Information

You may further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps you can take to protect your personal information by contacting the consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or your state Attorney General.  The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.  The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them.  You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above.  You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud.  Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim.  Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General.  This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.

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SOURCE Industrial Bank