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Successfully Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft – Part Five

Oct 9, 2015

Thank you for continuing to follow our seven-part series, “Successfully Protecting Yourself from Identity Theft”. In the past month, you have learned many facts pertaining to identity theft such as, what it is, how criminals obtain your information, statistics surrounding ID theft, types of identity theft, and how to protect your personal finance information in order to avoid becoming the next victim of this devastating crime. At Somerville National Bank, we strive to provide our clients and our communities with relevant, high-quality information that will aid in the protection of their personal information and financial information. This week, you will learn how to protect your banking information.

Banking Protection Steps
At Somerville National Bank, we take care to ensure that your personal information is properly protected. We have a number of strict policies and a wide range of procedures in place that ensures the protection of your account with us. Unfortunately, despite all of the measures that we take, it is still possible for identity thieves to illegally obtain your information if you fail to take the steps necessary to protect that information. By following the banking protection steps below, it is possible to avoid becoming the next victim of this crime:

  1. When traveling and conducting financial business that requires the use of a check, you should opt to use traveler’s checks instead of your personal banking checks. This will aid in protecting your account number.
  2. Each month, it is important that you carefully review your bank statement. Not only will you be able to find any mistakes that may be present on the statement, but, you will be able to successfully identify any type of charge that you did not make. Often, an unfamiliar charge on a bank account is the first sign that you are a victim of identity theft.
  3. If you receive your bank statements by mail, you should opt to go to electronic statements. Often, those that have a desire to steal your identity will obtain your mail, illegally, from your mailbox.
  4. If you have not switched to electronic bank statements and you discover that statement has not yet arrived by mail, you should contact the bank as soon as possible. If it was mailed properly, measures may have to be taken as the statement may have been illegally intercepted.
  5. It is never a good idea to have a check mailed to your home; instead, you should opt to use direct deposit.
  6. If you must order and use checks, you should never have them mailed directly to your home; instead, you should elect to pick them up directly at the bank.
  7. If your bank ever calls attempting to obtain personal information to update your account, hang up. This is likely an identity thief working to illegally obtain your information.

Conclusion
Somerville National Bank will never call and ask about your personal information. We take all measures possible to protect your identification. If you are our client or live in our community, we encourage you to call today to learn more about how to protect yourself. Be sure to review the first four installments of this series in order to know the latest information on ID theft and the most productive measures on protecting yourself. If you would like more information, please, contact us today at: 513-726-6471