BLACKSBURG, VA, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010: The National Bank of Blacksburg, which does business as National Bank from 25 offices throughout Southwest Virginia, announced today that fraudulent text messages using the bank's name were sent to area residents beginning on Saturday. The phony messages asked customers to call a telephone number and enter private card number information.

James G. Rakes, National Bank's Chairman, President & CEO, said, "As soon as we learned of the scam late on Saturday afternoon, we started working with our security consultants to have the criminals' telephone number deactivated. We appreciate the cooperation of local law enforcement in helping to alert the community about the problem. If any of our customers responded to the fake text message, we encourage them to contact the bank immediately." Mr. Rakes continued, "National Bank does not solicit customer information by e-mail, phone or text message, except in direct response to a bona fide customer request. We have heard reports of similar scams from bankers throughout the country. Cyber criminals are randomly dialing cell phone numbers in a locality, trying to trick community bank customers into providing confidential information. The best defense against these attacks is to help educate our customers about the need to safeguard their financial information."