Tina Kitt

The Wauneta Breeze

It’s a debit card holder’s — and debit card issuer’s — most nagging fear turned reality: A hacker accesses the information of local accounts, including yours.

Through letters and phone calls, debit/credit cardholders at Wauneta’s Valley Bank and Trust are being alerted that their accounts may have been compromised by a hacker.

In January a number of financial institutions around the country were notified of the security breach. As a result, more than two dozen banking institutions across the country took action to inform their customers that their debit/credit cards were among those compromised in the Heartland Payment Systems security breach, including Valley Bank and Trust and its branch bank in Wauneta.

Heartland, based in New Jersey, is the sixth-largest payments processor in the U.S handling 100 million transactions a month. The company announced on Jan. 20 that its processing systems were breached as early as this past May, exposing an undetermined number of consumers to potential fraud — including a number of Wauneta area residents.

The VISA Fraud Control and Investigations was notified of a confirmed network intrusion that has put the  debit/credit accounts at risk.

The latest institutions to announce their connection to the breach include banks in Arkansas, Florida,  Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma. The Nebraska banks include Gering-based Valley Bank and Trust/Western States Bank with 11 branch banks including Wauneta, Adams Bank and Trust in Grant and Platte Valley Bank in Scottsbluff.

Valley Bank and Trust received a VISA alert in January notifying them that some of their debit/credit card customers have been affected. In notifying cardholders VB&T employees assured customers that the breach occurred through no fault of the bank system, but rather through their service provider in New Jersey.

The time frame of fraud exposure window was May 15, 2008, through Nov. 13, 2008, according to information made available by the Bank Info Security Web site.

According to VB&T Wauneta Branch Manager Brenda Anderson it initially appeared only a few of VB&T’s debit/credit card customers had been affected. Those cardholders were notified and replacement cards advised, with the bank picking up the expense of issuing the new cards.

In February, VB&T was informed that several more cardholder accounts were at risk, with Anderson reporting that as of last week approximately 60 Wauneta branch customers had been affected.

“There very well could be more,” Anderson warned.

Thankfully, none of these accounts appeared to have sustained any unauthorized activity. Still, even once they receive their new debit cards and PIN numbers, cardholders are asked to closely monitor their new accounts for the next 12 to 24 months to make sure fraudulent charges are not made on their accounts at a later date.

All VB&T cards that appear to have been compromised in the security breach will automatically be terminated on Feb. 27, but many cardholders are choosing to cancel their cards and have new ones issued before that date. If any unauthorized or suspicious activity is noted they are asked to contact Valley Bank immediately.

“We sincerely regret any inconvenience that this may cause,” wrote John Stinner of Gering, VB&T president and CEO in a letter to affected card holders. “As you know, in today’s world there are criminals whose sole focus is to steal the information of law-abiding citizens. Please be assured that Valley Bank is aware of these threats and will take every precaution to protect the information with which you entrust us.”

Of all the banks involved nationwide, Anderson said she was only aware of one bank in Missouri which reported unauthorized card activity related to this security breach.

The security breach involves the confirmed unauthorized access to a U.S. third party processor’s authorization system of signature-based and PIN-based transaction information, that includes cardholder names, expiration dates, account numbers and some encrypted PIN blocks.

The hacker responsible for the data breach has been identified outside of North America by the U.S. Secret Service. The U.S. Justice Department has taken charge of the ongoing investigation.

Valley Bank and Trust Co. announces ID Theft protection service provider

Valley Bank & Trust Co. is announcing that it has signed on with Secure Identity Systems of Brentwood, Tenn., to provide ID Theft protection services for personal checking account customers. Effective immediately, primary account holders at Valley Bank & Trust Co. will receive free ID Theft recovery and education services through Secure Identity Systems. Customers will also have an option to upgrade to the Total ID Monitoring “Platinum” version at a discounted rate.

“At Valley Bank & Trust Co., we pride ourselves in providing our customers with the best possible banking services. Being able to incorporate Secure Identity Systems’ total Identity Theft Protection plan with our present services only strengthens our commitment to secure banking for our customers and employees,” says John Stinner, President/CEO of Valley Bank & Trust Co. “Secure Identity Systems is the only vendor that provides complete identity monitoring, full recovery in the case of ID theft, and educational workshops for customers and the community. Theirs is the most comprehensive solution out there today.”

Secure Identity Systems takes a four-pronged approach to identity theft protection and recovery with a program that includes total identity monitoring, complete ID Theft resolution, expense reimbursement insurance, and education services. “Because 70 percent of all ID Theft is non-credit related, it was imperative for us to find a solution that would encompass all types of ID Theft including, but not limited to, credit,” said Stinner. Secure Identity Systems monitors more databases than just credit, and has a staff of Certified Identity Theft Specialists who, should identity theft occur, work directly with victims and manage the recovery process for them.

According to Bryan Ansley, CEO of Secure Identity Systems, “The steps that Valley Bank & Trust Co. is taking with the implementation of this Identity Theft Protection plan are going to be instrumental in the protection of its customers. We look forward to serving Valley Bank & Trust Co. customers and the community in this effort, and providing them with the greatest security against Identity Theft.”

To introduce the community to this service, Valley Bank will be hosting two educational Identity Theft Workshops on Thursday, Feb. 19. Customers and community members are invited to enjoy a complimentary 9 a.m. breakfast at the Grey Goose Lodge in Ogallala or a noon lunch at the Senior Center in Wauneta. The workshop presenter, a Certified Identity Theft Specialist with Secure Identity Systems, will give information on identity theft trends while discussing how to prevent its occurrence. To attend either or both of these workshops, you are asked to reserve your place before Thursday, Feb. 12 by calling Valley Bank in Ogallala at 308-284-6260, Valley Bank in Grant at 308-352-4353 or Valley Bank in Wauneta at 308-394-5720.