PROTECTING YOUR INFORMATION

IDENTITY THEFT is one of the fasting growing crimes in America.  Southwest National Bank is extremely diligent about protecting your personal information.   Additionally there are a number of things YOU can do, some of which are listed here: 

• Avoid giving your account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information to anyone unless you are reasonably certain your information will be secure.

• Be aware that Southwest National Bank will not use email to ask you for your sensitive information.  A common scam, called "phishing", is the use of email disguised as being from a legitimate source, such as a bank or popular company, to request sensitive information from unsuspecting individuals.  Then that information is used illegitimately to order goods and services and obtain credit.

• Always review your bank statements and credit card statements.  Make sure there are no unauthorized charges on your account.  You have 60 days to report certain unauthorized transactions.  If one of your statements has not arrived more than a few days later than normal, call your bank or credit card company to confirm your billing address is correct.

• When using passwords online, remember to"log out" when your are through.  Then it is also good to shut down the computer when you leave it or at least shut down the application you were using so that a subsequent user cannot obtain your information.

• If you suspect someone is improperly using your account numbers, passwords, or any of your bank information, please contact us immediately.

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers the following brochures to help:
  
  
  "How Not to Get Hooked by the Phishing Scam" July 2003
  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm
  
  "ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen to Your Good Name" September 2002
  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm