Protecting yourself from fraud is an on-going task. A recent Javelin Strategy study^* indicates, "These crimes are more frequently committed offline than online." So what can you do to protect yourself? We suggest that you:

• Replace paper bills, statements and checks with Internet (paperless) options:

  	Enroll in free Internet Banking with Bill Pay. Receive, review and pay bills electronically, monitor your accounts and much more.
  	Sign up for Online Statements, and turn off paper statements when available.

• Shred private documents.
• Sign up for direct deposit.
• Retrieve mail promptly. Don't leave outgoing mail in an unsecured mailbox.
• Back up all sensitive information from your old computer before you discard and erase the hard drive.
• Be suspicious of anyone asking for your Social Security Number or account information on the phone or by email if you did not initiate the contact.

In addition, you can better detect unauthorized account activity by:

• Reviewing your statements regularly. Login to Internet Banking to review all your transaction history in one secure place.
• Use email account alerts in Internet Banking to keep you updated on the status of your account(s).
• Review your credit report yearly. Better yet, subscribe to a credit monitoring service such as PrivacyGuard to be aware of any suspicious activity.