Stopping Dormant Account Fraud

As your Bank and as your friends, all of us at Farmers & Merchants Bank are serious about keeping you and your money safe. And we’re always on the lookout for information that can help you protect yourself.  

Dormant accounts come with their own set of risks, and they’re magnets for fraudsters. You’ll be glad to know we take several steps to keep all your accounts safe and counteract fraud. A dormant account is one that has been inactive for 90 days or more, often one where a bank and the account holder are no longer in touch. Sometimes people simply forget about an account they no longer use.  

You’ve heard us talk before about how fraudsters target rarely used accounts because they assume customers won’t notice any improper activity. But once an account is coded as “dormant,” there are additional issues. The unfortunate truth is that dormant accounts are more vulnerable to fraud perpetrated by employees within banks.  

Therefore, it’s so important to choose a banking partner you can trust. At Farmers & Merchants Bank we take great care and pride in choosing people you can rely on to be a part of our team. Here are some of the additional controls we use to keep your accounts safe:  

• Check activity on dormant accounts after 90 days so a supervisory override or dual control access is required before any new activity is initiated  
• Review Dormant Account reports for any activity other than interest earned 
• Review a report of accounts approaching dormancy, which can be a better fraud target than truly dormant accounts. If there are transfers or withdrawals, or any other questionable activity, we contact the customer 
• Review Dormant-to-Active status reports to ensure any changes were initiated by the customer 
• Require customer-authorized transactions to reactivate any dormant account and verify them through CIP verification procedures
   

There are also several things you can do proactively to prevent fraud from affecting you: 

• Check your accounts often 
• Report suspicious transactions to the Fraud Squad at 402-761-7600 
• Avoid answering security questions such as the street you grew up on or mother’s maiden name 
• Don’t answer telephone calls from unknown numbers or click on questionable links in emails or text messages 
• The IRS and Social Security offices will never call you. If you get a call from them, it is most likely a scam, and you should avoid answering
  

Anyone can fall victim to fraud, and it happens more often than you think. If it happens to you, call the Fraud Squad. We are always here for you when you need us.  

Stay safe! 

Our thanks to Romech McIntosh for his explanations of how banks can prevent dormant account fraud.