Union State Bank has taken a proactive stance on fraud throughout rural communities. “We take our role seriously, because fraud awareness is a shared responsibility, from us and our customers,” said Kate Weigel, marketing officer at Union State Bank.

Scammers are constantly evolving and their attempts to fake people out of their money. Over the course of several years, we have seen many attempts to breach customers’ good judgment and gain access to their money.

It’s more than just “you won a free vacation” or a distant relative in a different country left you money. It’s a fake business, sending letters in the mail suggests wrapping your vehicle to provide free advertising for them and at no cost to you. It’s phone calls claiming your computer is locked up and you’ve been on some questionable websites, and you must provide the caller (scammer) payment to scrub your computer or you’re in trouble.

Or something as simple as a text message claiming you need to click the link to verify a package arriving.

Now, things have evolved to calling people and claiming to their bank or the fraud center. Saying a charge went through their account and the caller (scammer) needs to verify some information to remove the charge.

The unease of situations like these and similar is the amount of information these scammers can have and the power that comes with a little information. Creating uncertainty and being so trusting of people with information.

Union State Bank has created a fraud department, sharing responsibility with our customers and are being educated; prepared to combat scams on all possible fronts.

Union State Bank’s Fraud Mitigation Team is assigned to three individuals, Ginny Cheatley, Michelle Harm and Megan McCabe. They have attended the North Dakota Bankers Association’s Fraud Academy and continue to take training throughout the year to stay up to date on fraud happenings.  

Union State Bank has also increased their own protocol when customers are calling, requesting changes or information on their accounts. These changes are to protect the customers from impersonators and bad actors. As artificial intelligence (AI) has continued to advance, it is no longer humans we need to be vigilant of as scammers, but also AI and the ability to play a role in these scam attempts. 

Please know that your financial safety is Union State Bank's number one priority. What can you do to protect yourself? If you receive any suspicious phone calls, do not hesitate to call us or your phone carrier (ex. WRT) to report your experience or block a number. If you receive a call from our bank that you feel is suspicious, please hang up and call us back at 701.748.2233 and we will be glad to assist you.

We would rather be proactive when it comes to your financial safety, and that responsibility is shared between yourself and your banker.