Issued January 22, 2009 - Debit Card Security Breach
Issued August 27, 2008 - Vishing Threat
Issued November 2, 2007 - Phishing Threat
Take Action to Protect Your Information
As a reminder, there are a number of steps you can take to keep your account information confidential:
Do not respond to suspicious looking email. Even if you do not provide the requested information, opening these messages can be dangerous.
If you believe you have been targeted and are concerned about your information being compromised, contact the Bremer Phone Bank immediately at 1-800 908-BANK (2265).
Bremer never sends e-mails requesting clients or non-clients to send personal information through e-mail or a web site. To learn more about Bremer’s security and tips to protect your information, visit the Bremer Security Center on Bremer.com.
Issued January 22, 2009
At Bremer, our number one priority is protecting our clients and their financial information. That's why we wanted to alert you to a potential security issue with Heartland Payment Systems that could include Bremer Visa Check Card numbers. Heartland Payment Systems announced on Tuesday, Jan. 20, that they found evidence of an intrusion to their processing platform. Heartland processes debit and credit card transactions for more than 250,000 businesses nationwide.
At this point, we are working with authorities to investigate this matter further. We will continue to monitor our customer's accounts and will work closely with Visa to identify any fraudulent behavior.
As always, we encourage our clients to protect themselves from identity theft by closely monitoring their accounts for unauthorized transactions and safeguarding their personal information. Bremer customers can review their accounts online through bremer.com and can review How to protect yourself online for additional consumer security tips.
If you notice anything suspicious, please notify us as soon as possible. You won't have to worry about paying for unauthorized charges because your card is backed by Visa's Zero Liability protection.* If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Bremer Phone Bank immediately at 1-800 908-BANK (2265).
*Visa’s Zero Liability covers U.S.-issued cards only and does not apply to commercial credit cards, ATM transactions, or PIN transactions not processed by Visa. Cardholder must notify card issuer promptly of any unauthorized use. Consult issuer for additional details or visit www.visa.com/security.
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Issued August 27, 2008
Bremer has confirmed that a small number of people were recently vished. "Vishing" employs text messages, phone recordings and/or email to persuade customers to dial a telephone or respond to a telephone call and provide personal information including bank account, credit and debit card numbers and ATM PINs.
An unknown number of people recently received a call or voicemail that appeared to come from Bremer Bank. The automated call requested the individuals select an option and provide confidential account or financial information. Bremer Bank is currently working to shut down the vishing caller, and determine the extent to which our clients may have been affected.
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Issued November 2, 2007
Bremer has confirmed that a small number of people were recently phished. "Phishing" is when a criminal replicates a legitimate web site to deceive individuals into providing personal, financial, or other confidential information.
An unknown number of people recently received an email that appeared to be sent from Bremer Bank. The email requested the individuals click on a link which took the recipient to a login page that looked like our secure online banking tool, Bremer Online Banking. The fraudulent web site asked these individuals to provide confidential client information -- Access ID and Password -- as well as Bremer Secure Access "challenge" questions.
Bremer Bank is currently working to shut down the phishing site, and determining the extent to which our clients may have been affected.
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