If you discover you are a victim of identity theft, you need to take the following steps immediately, keep notes of conversations and copies of all written correspondence.

1. Place a fraud alert with one of the Credit Bureaus and place a "victim's statement" on the file asking that creditors contact you prior to opening new accounts in your name. (You only need to place the fraud alert with one credit bureau. The one you contact is required to send the information to the other two credit bureaus. Their contact numbers are: Equifax 1-800-525-6285; Experian 1-888-397-3742; TransUnion 1-800-680-7289)
2. Close all the accounts that you know or think have been compromised or opened fraudulently. Speak to someone in the security/fraud department and follow up with a written statement sent certified mail with return receipt requested for your records.
3. Be sure to file a "Miscellaneous Incidents" report with the police where the identity theft occurred. Obtain a copy of the report to help you when dealing with creditors who request proof of the fraud or crime.
4. Submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. A complaint can be filed online at www.consumer.gov/idtheft; call 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); or write to Identity Theft Clearinghouse, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20580.

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THE BANKS SECURITY COMMITMENT

Highlands Independent Bank puts a high priority on protecting your information. We constantly strive to make improvements to our systems and processes to ensure the quality, safety, and integrity of your online banking experience.

What Highlands Independent Bank Does to Protect You
Highlands Independent Bank uses the latest technology - including cryptographic techniques, firewalls and trusted operating systems - to ensure that your Internet transactions with Highlands Independent Bank are secure and tamper-proof.

We employ advanced electronic data encryption to provide privacy for the data flowing between your computer and our online server. To determine if an online session is encrypted or not, look at the "lock" icon located in your browser's window. If the lock is solid or closed, then the session is encrypted. If the icon appears to be "unlocked", then encryption is not being used and the current session is not secure.

To make sure you're taking advantage of the current state-of-the-art in Internet banking security, we suggest you sign on using a 128-bit secure browser. Only certain browsers are approved with our Internet Banking products, click here to review our list of current approved browsers.

Highlands Independent Bank e-mail
Certain services such as E-Statements are available at the customer's request, which would require us to obtain your e-mail address. Please read our Privacy Policy for more information on how we obtain and use your e-mail address.

Generally, any e-mail sent over the Internet is not secure. Any information you send via e-mail should be of a non-sensitive and non-confidential nature. Internet Banking users should use the Message Center to communicate to the bank about their accounts.

Highlands Independent Bank will never send an e-mail asking you to verify account numbers, Social Security numbers, pin numbers, passwords or other personal identifying information.

If you have any questions about a Highlands Independent Bank e-mail, please contact us.

Top Ten Safety Tips for Protecting your Personal Information

1. Check your credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the three national credit reporting companies to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit report once every 12 months. (visit www.annualcreditreport.com).
2. If you bank or pay credit cards on-line, avoid passwords that include personal information, such as mother's maiden name or date of birth. Instead, use something unique that only you know.
3. Don't give out personal information over the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you've initiated the contact or are sure you know who you're dealing with. If you must share personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization.
4. Don't list your Social Security Number on your driver's license or other forms of identification.
5. Banks will not ask you to verify personal information via e-mail. If you receive an e-mail asking you to verify information do not respond and call the bank directly.
6. If you receive an e-mail asking for personal information, do not hit the reply Button or click on any website link in the e-mail. Instead, go directly to the sender's website by typing in the sender's website address.
7. Protect your personal information. Don't leave sensitive documents containing personal information where anyone can see it.
8. Use a shredder before disposing of personal records, especially financial records, preferably a cross-cut shredder (thieves have been known to paste together single-shred documents to obtain information)
9. When going on vacation, temporarily stop mail delivery; the U.S. Postal Service will hold mail for you.
10. Don't use an automatic log-in feature on your computer.

Identity Theft is a challenge that every business and consumer must face; we at Highlands Independent Bank constantly take measures to safeguard consumers' personal information. It is equally as important for consumers' to take precautions to help reduce their risk as well.

Related Links

Additional information on "What to do if you are a victim of Identity Theft.":
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

Protect yourself from scams that arrive by mail, phone and e-mail:
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnwin0607/protect.html

Phishing:
http://www.icba.org/info.cfm?ItemNumber=16546

Prevent ID Theft Video: A 10-minute educational video that provides an overview of identity theft and outlines the steps consumers can take