Wire Transfers have increasingly become a favored target for fraudsters due to the potential for large payouts and the inability to reverse the transactions. Email compromises and the reliance on email communication have helped enable wire fraud. Nationwide, losses associated with Business Email Compromises have more doubled in the last five years, and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by fraudsters makes it even more difficult to confidentially communicate with customers via telephone, email and text. Many times, these fraud schemes are executed by first fraudulently gaining access to customers’ email accounts and altering or providing false information to the bank.
At Central State Bank, we are dedicated to protecting our customers from fraud. Therefore, in response to this heightened risk, starting on Monday, August 4, 2025, Central State Bank will no longer accept wire transfer requests of $50,000 and larger via email. In an effort to provide customers with a convenient and secure alternative to email, we have created a Wire Transfer option within Online Banking. Click HERE for instructions to submit wire transfer requests via Online Banking.
Additionally, we have added a new security feature to help verify customers’ identity when we contact customers to confirm wiring instructions. We will soon start sending a One Time Passcode to customers’ Online Banking account. During our call back verification, we will ask customers to log into Online Banking and provide us with the One Time Passcode. Once the code and the wire instructions have been verified, we will complete the wire transfer per the customers’ instructions. Click HERE for instructions to retrieve a One Time Passcode via Online Banking.
