Salisbury Bank and Trust has become aware of a recent scam involving an email purportedly coming from Salisbury Bank and Trust Company which asks for personal information. The fraudulent email alerts "members" that their "Profile has been locked" and the email importance is "High".

The fraudulent email appears to have come from Salisbury Bank and Trust Company and warns recipients that they may have previously received a fraudulent email designed by hackers to obtain personal information. The email further urges consumers not to click on any links or enter any account information in the previous email.

The scam email asks consumers to call a toll-free number to "unlock" their online banking profile and to "reactivate" their debit/credit cards.

Please be advised that the email was not sent by Salisbury Bank and Trust Company. Rather, the fraudulent email was designed to trick consumers into revealing private information.

This practice has become known as "phishing". Phishing occurs when criminals target consumers by using the logos of well known and legitimate financial institutions in an effort to steal personal and financial information. To make these e-mails appear more authentic, the sender often duplicates the company's logo and familiar format to redirect the consumer to a fraudulent website, or to contact a toll-free number.

The email has absolutely no connection to Salisbury Bank and Trust Company. The identity theft attempt is not a breach in the security of the Salisbury Bank and Trust Company's systems, but rather a criminal attempt to mislead consumers into providing personal information to an unknown source.

Salisbury Bank and Trust Company warns consumers that they should not reply to the fraudulent email and consumers should not contact the toll-free number. Salisbury Bank and Trust Company will never solicit confidential or sensitive consumer information via email.

If you have received the fraudulent email, or any other email requesting personal information that purports to be from Salisbury Bank and Trust Company, please forward the email to us immediately at ecommerce@salisburybank.com. If you called the toll-free number and believe you inadvertently provided your personal information to an unknown source, please call Amanda Lidstone, Compliance Specialist, immediately at 860-435-9801 x1413 or 800-522-9801 x1413.

Here are some tips to protect yourself:

· Do not share your PIN numbers and passwords with anyone.

· Do not send your social security number or account information by unsecured email to anyone.

· Do not give personal information to anyone via e-mail or over the telephone.

· Beware of urgent emails or pop-up requests that require an urgent reply.

You can minimize your risk if you are aware and knowledgeable about identity theft. For more information about protecting consumers, we recommend that you visit the Customer Security section of our website to learn more about identity theft. Also, we recommend visiting the consumer section of the FDIC's website at www.fdic.gov.

If you have general questions about the Bank or your accounts, please go to Contact Us. Or call Salisbury Bank at 860-435-9801 or 800-222-9801.

Salisbury Bank is a full-service community bank headquartered in Lakeville, Connecticut and presently operates full service branches in Canaan, Lakeville, Salisbury and Sharon, Connecticut, South Egremont and Sheffield, Massachusetts, as well as, Dover Plains, New York. The Bank has been serving families and businesses for nearly 160 years and offers a full range of consumer and business banking products and services as well as trust and investment services.