Security Tips

Resources to Keep Cyber Criminals at Bay

You work hard for your income in order to provide a better life for yourself and your family. Unfortunately, there are those who work hard to take that all away from you. Criminals have all sorts of tactics to try and pry out information they can use to their advantage.

Our first priority is to help keep you and yours as safe as possible from these criminals. We have put together a hub of security information to help you prevent fraud and identity theft from happening to you.

Security Tips and Articles

We’ve collected a number of excellent resources that cover all aspects of financial security. Select any of the PDFs listed here to get informed about security best practices.

Identity Theft Prevention

Identity theft is a particular type of fraud that can not only affect your finances, but your life as whole. Recovering from identity theft is costly, takes time and can wear on you and your family. This makes preventing identity theft key.

In addition to the resources listed above, there are also a number of things you can do to prevent identity theft from happening to you.

Never carry your Social Security card or birth certificates with you unless absolutely necessary.
Shred any mail that has your name and sensitive information (account numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.) on it before recycling.
Keep your computer’s anti-virus and firewall software up-to-date.
Change passwords and PINs regularly.
Check your credit report. You can receive one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus every year to check and ensure there are no discrepancies. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to order your annual copies.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, quick action is vital. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) identity theft recovery steps outline all the steps you need to take to minimize the damage and start putting your life back together.