Fifth Third Bank offers tips to protect yourself and your money

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

When it comes to your identity and your money, you want to make sure you have the right tools and knowledge to keep them secure. Unfortunately, there often seems to be new (and old) ways to try to swindle people.

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Fifth Third Bank offers some tips on how you can spot a "phishy" email. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Phone scams, text scams, email scams – there are a lot of ways the bad guys are trying to trick you,” said Brian Minick, chief information security officer at Fifth Third Bank. “From data protection to identity alerts and beyond, Fifth Third works diligently to keep accounts and information secure but it is also important for our customers to put safeguards in place.”

Fifth Third offers the following tips to help keep you safe:

• Avoid phishing emails, texts and phone calls from fraudsters: Urgent-sounding messages that ask for personal information and request immediate action should be an instant red flag. Other telltale signs include typos, unexpected attachments, email aliases and links to unknown websites.
• Protect yourself: Use a strong, unique password for each of your online accounts. Avoid using common words in your passwords, such as your name, your pet’s name, birthdates, cities, or states. Use a trusted password management service to track your passwords.
• Protect your devices: Keep all software, browsers and apps up to date with latest releases. Only download trusted apps and browse safely by disabling pop-up windows, avoiding risky sites, and disabling plugins.
• Backup your data: Make digital copies of important files and safely store them.
• Use Secure Communications: Avoid public Wi-Fi and never enter personal information into a public computer.

Fifth Third will never ask its customers for online account username or password via email, text message or phone call. If a customer ever feels unsure about a communication received, contact the Fifth Third team to investigate.

Learn more about how to protect yourself on Fifth Third’s stay secure page. The Bank offers Identity Alert and provides articles on fraud and cybersecurity for businesses.

About Fifth Third

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, a federally chartered institution. As of June 30, 2022, the Company had $207 billion in assets and operates 1,080 full-service Banking Centers, and 2,153 Fifth Third branded ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately 56,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of June 30, 2022, had $512 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $54 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ^® Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB."

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