Avoiding Identity Theft

The best protection against identity theft is to carefully protect your personal information.

For example:

• Do not share personal information over the phone, through the mail, or over the internet unless you initiated the contact or know the company/person you are dealing with.
• Be suspicious if someone contacts you unexpectedly online and asks for your personal information. Riverland Bank will not contact you online and request your personal information.
• Only open e-mails that look like they are from people or organizations you know, and even then, be cautious if they look questionable. Be especially wary of fraudulent e-mails or websites that have typos or other obvious mistakes.
• Choose PINs and passwords that would be difficult to guess and avoid using easily identifiable information such as your mother’s maiden name, birth dates, the last four digits of your social security number, or phone numbers.
• Shred old receipts, account statements, and unused credit card offers.
• Pay attention to billing cycles and account statements and contact your bank if you don’t receive a monthly bill or statement.
• Review account statements thoroughly to ensure all transactions are authorized.
• Guard your mail from theft, promptly remove incoming mail, and do not leave bill payment envelopes in your mailbox with the flag up for pick up by mail carrier.
• Obtain your free credit report annually and review your credit history to ensure it is accurate.
• Be careful about where and how you conduct financial transactions, for example don’t use an unsecured Wi-Fi network because someone might be able to access the information you are transmitting or viewing.
• Already a victim of ID Theft? Click on this link for assistance from the Federal Trade Commission.

Already fallen victim to identity theft? Review the helpful tips below:

• Click on this link for assistance from the Federal Trade Commission.
• Contact the Bank and let them know that you have fallen victim and that you would like to place any additional security around accessing your accounts.
• Contact your local law enforcement and report the fraud.
• Freeze your credit

The fastest way to place a freeze is online by creating a free account with each bureau. You can also request a freeze by phone or mail.

For other frauds and scams report it to your local law enforcement and ReportFraud.ftc.gov