During times of marketplace uncertainty, bad actors smell opportunity. The fall of Silicon Valley Bank and the resulting nervousness in the marketplace could trigger unscrupulous operators to engage with you to try to get you to reveal your private and personal information, particularly related to your banking practices.

Things to beware of include:

• Scammers might attempt to impersonate trusted banking brands or cyber security companies in an effort to get you to reveal your personal information.

• Phishing campaigns could lure people into opening links or attachments that include malware that allows them access to your personal information.

• Scams often rely on compelling content and urgency that encourage you to provide your login information or login to your accounts through a provided link or phone someone on a phone number provided in the email.

What should you do?

• Have your guard up! If you receive an unexpected or even mildly suspicious email from your bank, do not click on anything in the email. Login to your account separately and find a customer service number and call the bank independently of the email you received and ask whether the email was legitimate.

• Red flags of scam emails include poor grammar, odd looking logos, typos and emails that are formatted differently than you are used to seeing them.

• Change your passwords on your apps or online banking accounts. Do this regularly regardless, but especially now during a time of flux in the banking environment.

Ask your Regent Peak Wealth Advisor how else you can protect your transactions with us and have a conversation to understand all that we do on a routine basis to protect your information. We take cyber security very seriously at Regent Peak Wealth Advisors and we are happy to help you know all that you can to protect yourself and your information.