How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
Here are some practical steps you can take to safeguard your personal information and reduce the risk of identity theft.
- Obtain and review your credit report annually from all three credit bureaus. You are entitled to order one free credit report from each of the three nationwide credit bureaus once a year. You can order by calling 1-877-322-8228 or logging onto www.AnnualCreditReport.com
- Don’t give your Social Security Number, credit card number or any account details over the phone or online unless you initiated the call and know the business is reputable.
- Promptly remove incoming mail from your mailbox.
- If your Social Security Number is being used for identification purposes, request another method of identification.
- Don’t record passwords on paper.
- Don’t leave receipts containing your full account number at ATMs or unattended gas pumps.
- Check your monthly statements to verify all transactions.
- Report lost or stolen cards immediately.
- Sign all new credit cards upon receipt.
- Be aware of others nearby when entering your PIN.
- Shred all personal and financial information.
Stop by our branch to add your cell phone number to your contact information so that we can keep you in the know, wherever you and your phone may go!
Last updated on: December 5, 2011
