Notification to Affected Users:

Subject:           Update on Recent Urgent Security Warning – Open Immediately         

Community Bank of Santa Maria has essentially completed our investigation of the events that occurred on the afternoon of Friday, April 5, 2024. After thorough investigation of our network, reports and information from various vendors, and interviewing customers contacted by the perpetrator(s), we have concluded with reasonable certainty that the perpetrator(s) utilized publicly available information coupled with social engineering and spoofing tactics to target a handful of Community Bank of Santa Maria customers with the intent of obtaining online banking credentials. We are happy to report this attempt resulted in a catastrophic failure for the perpetrators as they were unsuccessful at extorting funds from any of our customers.

We spoke with all customers who reported being contacted by the perpetrator(s).  If we did not speak with you, and you believe you were or may have been contacted by someone impersonating a staff member of Community Bank of Santa Maria, please contact us at your earliest convenience either in person or by phone at (805)922-2900. Otherwise, no further action is required on your part.  Our network was not compromised and remains secure so you may rest assured your account(s) is/are secure.

However, you should continue to be on high alert for any suspicious activity.  There is public information about you and your business that can be exploited at any time by people with bad intentions. Please direct your attention to these important reminders to keep your financial information secure and refer to the ‘Fraud Prevention’ page of our website (www.yourcbsm.com) for more information:

·   Do not provide your log in credentials, PIN, account number, or any other identifying information to anyone making such a request via text, phone, or e-mail. We will never contact you to obtain this information.
·   Never provide a Secure Access Code to anyone. Again, the bank will never contact you to obtain this information. Please refer to the ‘FAQ’s About Secure Access Codes’ available under ‘Additional Information’ on the ‘Online & Mobile Banking’ page of our website: www.yourcbsm.com.
·   Use something other than {first initial last name} as your username, especially for applications or websites where your financial information is stored.
·   If you get a call that appears to be from the bank, and they start asking for personal identifying information and/or a Secure Access Code, hang up! Then call the bank immediately.

If you have not yet been contacted by us to reestablish your online banking access, a staff member will reach out to you soon. Alternatively, you may call or come in and we’re happy to assist you with restoring your online banking credentials.

We wish to reiterate our regret for this inconvenience. We took prompt and corrective actions to protect your accounts, which may have resulted in a temporary inconvenience. But no matter how temporary, it is nevertheless impactful to you. We appreciate your understanding of our overall desire to protect your financial assets. We are happy we were successful at doing so in this situation, but are compelled to remind you that you play an important role in the protection of your financial assets.  Please adhere to the security reminders above.

Please don’t hesitate to call or come in if you have any questions or concerns. We’re here to help!