Customer Alerts
*As a reminder, Citizens Bank will never contact you requesting your personal information. If someone attempts to gain access to your information please refrain from giving it to them and call a customer service representative at 575-647-4100.
Phishing Attempts 4/2/2018
Please be advised that there have been some phishing attempts by text message and email. If you receive something and are unsure if it is from Citizens Bank, please call us at 575-647-4100 for further instruction.
New Debit Card Alert 1/9/2018
There has been a high incidence of fraud in Las Cruces surrounding Debit Card purchases. To help protect your account, please select the debit option and enter your PIN number to complete your purchase. Using the credit option of your Debit Card creates a signature based transaction which could cause a purchase to be declined.
Please contact us at 575-647-4100 to answer any questions about using your debit card and how we can help ensure you have access to your money.
Equifax Breach Information
Recently, Equifax, one of the three national consumer credit reporting agencies, announced a major data breach. This breach affects approximately 143 million Americans. This is what we know according to Equifax: the data breach occurred May – July 2017, and the information stolen includes consumers’ personally identifiable information, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. Approximately 209,000 credit card numbers and dispute documents with personally identifiable information for approximately 182,000 consumers were also stolen. There is no evidence of unauthorized access to consumers’ credit reporting databases.
To be clear, Citizens Bank of Las Cruces was not compromised and your information was not stolen from our bank. However, Citizens Bank takes the security of our customer information very seriously, and we are providing you with the information we know about this massive breach and the steps you can take to protect your personally identifiable information if you so desire. Following this unprecedented breach, we are also asking our customers to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity in your Citizens Bank accounts to Citizens Bank by calling 575-647-4100 or visiting www.citizenslc.com
Equifax has established a website that informs consumers if they may be affected by the breach, provides additional information on the breach, and offers complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring. This information is available at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. To protect your identity and personal information, Citizens Bank strongly encourages our customers to take the actions noted below.
- Review your account statements to spot any suspicious transactions. You can also monitor your account activity online at any time at www.citizenslc.com
- If you spot any suspicious transactions, please contact us immediately at 575-647-4100
- Consider if you should place an initial fraud alert on your credit report (see https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert).
- Consider if you should freeze your credit file (see https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs).
- Review your credit reports for accuracy. Call any one of the three credit reporting agencies to receive your free annual credit report or visit www.annualcreditreport.gov.
| Experian ® P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 888-397-3742 www.experian.com |
TransUnion® P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 800-680-7289 www.transunion.com |
Equifax® P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374 800-349-5191 www.equifax.com |
- You should also contact the credit reporting agencies to notify them of any suspected fraud or identity theft.
If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, contact your local law enforcement office and/or your state attorney general. Finally, you may also want to consider reviewing information about recovering from identity theft, which is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338). The FTC also offers general information to protect your online presence at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/privacy-identity-online-security.
Equifax has established a dedicated toll-free number to answer questions you may have about the Equifax data breach and its effect on your personally identifiable information. You may call them at 866-447-7559.
Equifax has established a dedicated toll-free number to answer questions you may have about the Equifax data breach and its effect on your personally identifiable information. You may call them at 866-447-7559.
Additional Link:
FTC Consumer Breach Information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do
FTC Consumer Breach Information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do
Debit Card Alerts
Debit card blocks outside of the US
Due to excessive fraud with debit card transactions in foreign countries, Citizens Bank will be blocking all non-US transactions. However, if you need to make a specific transaction in another country or are planning a trip abroad, we do have the ability to allow your debit card to work for a specified timeframe.
Debit card restricted areas due to fraudulent activity
Due to a high incidence of fraud in the cities and states listed below, we have placed a temporary debit card block. You will still be able to use your debit card in some of these locations, but will be required to enter your PIN to complete transactions. You will still be able to complete online purchases.
- Albuquerque, NM
- Austin, TX
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Maryland
- New York
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
Please contact us at 575-647-4100 to answer any questions about using your debit card and how we can help ensure you have access to your money while away.
EMV Cards
Starting in August 2017, the EMV chip will be introduced to our debit cards. As cards expire, you will be reissued a card with an EMV chip.
- EMV cards are more secure than the magnetic stripes on traditional debit cards.
- EMV cards contain microprocessor chips inside which make it harder for anyone to steal your account information during payment.
- To use the EMV cards, insert your EMV chip into the terminal slot. This is called “card dipping”. Once dipped, data flows between the chip and the financial institution to verify the card’s legitimacy, creating the unique transaction data.
FRAUD PREVENTION SERVICE
In our continuing efforts to keep your accounts safe, we've improved our alert system for potential fraud.
Here's how it works:
When potential fraud is detected, you will receive an automatic email notification from Citizens Bank of Las Cruces, with the option to reply with "fraud' or "no fraud".
One minute after the email, you will receive a text alert from 32874 between 7am and 9pm EST, which will also have the "fraud' or "no fraud" option.(*See Below)
If there is no response received from you, five minutes after the text alert, you will receive an automatic phone call to confirm or deny the fraud.
Remember- Our messages WILL NEVER ask for your PIN or account number.
* As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at 575-647-4100