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Important Information for American National Bank customers:
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 10:00 PM

CALIFORNIA ATMS ARE CURRENTLY BEING BLOCKED.

You may have heard on your local TV, radio or newspaper media about a card skimming ring that has hit the Rocky Mountain States of Colorado and Wyoming. Some of the banks in the cities of Colorado Springs, Denver and Cheyenne are having their customers report fraudulent card transactions showing up on their bank statements.In all cases the fraudulent transactions appear as ATM withdrawals from ATMs in California.

At this time we do not know the source of the skimming, but initial reports lead us to believe the ring could involve as many as 30 gas stations along I-25 up and down the Front Range Until we are able to get a better understanding of the scope of this problem, American National Bank has decided to take a pro-active stance to protect our customers.

Effective, Friday, July 23, 2010, we have put a temporary block on ATM withdrawals from California ATMs by our card holders.

Please take notice of this block, if you are currently in California or will be traveling to California in the next few days.Any attempt to use your Debit card at a California ATM will result in the transaction being declined. We are sorry for the inconvenience this will undoubtedly cause some of our customers.But we feel at this time it is better to be pro-active to protect all our customers.

You can still use your Debit card at any California merchant to make purchases; these transactions are not being declined.  As we acquire more information on this situation, we will post updates on our web site.We expect this inconvenience to only last a few days until the size and scope of the skimming operation is determined. Please contact any of our branch locations if you have any questions. For anyone already in California that needs to get cash, remember you can go to any bank and get a cash advance from your Debit card.

For those of you who might not be aware, skimming is the act of putting an additional card reading device on machines such as gas pumps, ATMs or other card terminals used to swipe cards.These devices electronically capture your card information and your pin number. With this information the crooks can make a generic card that can be used at ATMs.

Steps you can take to lower your risk of becoming a victim of skimming fraud:

• Treat your Debit card like cash, never let it out of your sight
• Never give out your pin number to anyone, do not write it down
• Use ATMs in conspicuous well visible areas, bank ATMs are less likely to be skimmed
• Always monitor your bank account frequently, don’t wait for statements, use Internet banking
• At Gas pumps, use your debit card like a credit card, many times you can say it is a credit card
• Be aware of your surroundings, report anything strange or out of place you see on an ATM
• Report any suspicious activity on your bank account immediately to your bank

Thank you,
American National Bank
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