Protect Yourself and Minimize Your Risk
While you probably can't prevent identity theft entirely, you can minimize your risk. By managing your personal information wisely, cautiously, and with an awareness of the issue, you can help guard against identity theft.
What you can do today:
- Enroll with Credit Score powered by SavvyMoney® in Digital Banking to access
your credit score and monitor your credit. It’s free and won’t impact your credit.
- Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. Make sure it's accurate and includes only those activities you've authorized.
- Avoid using readily available information when creating passwords, like your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN, your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers
- Only give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet if you've initiated the contact or are sure you know who you're dealing with. Identity thieves may pose as representatives of banks, Internet service providers
(ISPs) and even government agencies to get you to reveal your SSN, account numbers and other identifying information.
- Guard your mail and trash from theft. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox. If you're planning to be away from home and can't pick up your mail, call the U.S. Postal Service to request a vacation hold.
- Carry only the identification information and the number of credit and debit cards that you'll need. Don't carry your SSN card; leave it in a secure place.
What to do if you’re a victim:
- Place fraud alerts with credit bureaus
- Experian: 888-397-3742
- Equifax: 800-525-6285
- TransUnion: 800-680-7289
- File a complaint with the ID Theft Hotline: 877-ID THEFT
- Check credit report information and review accounts
- Alert your financial institution
- Close accounts that have been tampered with or opened
- File a police report (and keep a copy for your records)