Dear Peoples State Bank Customers:

     As you most likely know, Equifax, one of the three national consumer credit reporting agencies, recently announced a major data breach. This breach affects approximately 143 million Americans. This is what we know according to Equifax: the data breach occurred May – July 2017, and the information stolen includes consumers’ personally identifiable information, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. Approximately 209,000 credit card numbers and dispute documents with personally identifiable information for approximately 182,000 consumers were also stolen. There is no evidence of unauthorized access to consumers’ credit reporting databases.
     To be clear, The Peoples State Bank of Newton was not compromised and your information was not stolen from our bank. However, Peoples State Bank takes the security of our customer information very seriously, and we are providing you with the information we know about this massive breach and the steps you can take to protect your personally-identifiable information if you so desire. Following this unprecedented breach, we are also asking our customers to be extra vigilant and report any suspicious activity in your Peoples State Bank accounts to Peoples State Bank by calling 800-669-0341 or visiting www.psbnewton.com.

     Equifax has established a website that informs consumers if they may be affected by the breach, provides additional information on the breach, and offers complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring. This information is available at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. To protect your identity and personal information, Peoples State Bank strongly encourages our customers to take the actions noted below.

• Review your account statements to spot any suspicious transactions. You can also monitor your account activity online at any time at www.psbnewton.com with our free online banking.
• If you spot any suspicious transactions, please contact us immediately at
  1-800-669-0341.
• Consider placing an initial fraud alert on your credit report (see https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert).
• Consider if you should freeze your credit file (see https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs).
• Review your credit reports for accuracy. Call any one of the three credit reporting agencies to receive your free annual credit report or visit www.annualcreditreport.gov.
• You should also contact the credit reporting agencies to notify them of any suspected fraud or identity theft.
  

  Credit Reporting Agencies

  Experian ®	TransUnion®	Equifax®
  PO Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 888-397-3742 www.experian.com	PO Box 2000 Chester, PA 800-680-7289 www.transunion.com	PO Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374 866-349-5191 www.equifax.com

     If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, contact your local law enforcement office and/or your state attorney general. Finally, you may also want to consider reviewing information about recovering from identity theft, which is available from the Federal  Trade Commission (FTC) at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338). The FTC also offers general information to protect your online presence at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/privacy-identity-online-security.

     Equifax has established a dedicated toll-free number to answer questions you may have about the Equifax data breach and its effect on your personally identifiable information. You may call them at 866-447-7559.

Sincerely,

The Peoples State Bank of Newton
Proudly Serving Jasper and Lawrence Counties