You can protect your money, investments and above all else your credit, from the increasing threat of fraud and identity theft.

The most common fraudulent transactions are:

• Identity theft.
• Falsifying of documents.
• Signature forgery.
• Stealing of checks

Some precautionary measures that can be taken are:

• Be careful to whom you give your personal data, such as your complete name, address, social security number, date of birth and account numbers.
• Maintain a file of your documents and destroy all those that contain your personal information.
• Use electronic debit or direct payment, social security checks, retirement checks, etc.  Open a separate account for these purposes.
• Never provide your user name, password nor PIN number to anyone.
• Never write down your PIN number nor ATM password, nor your credit card or check book number.
• Change your password periodically.
• You be the one who starts the electronic transactions with your bank or with any online company from which you want to purchase any type of merchandise.
• Secure Internet pages are identified by different symbols depending on your browser. (Internet Explorer uses a yellow lock on the right side of the page) Verify that the certificate of authenticity (yellow lock) genuinely belongs to the company with which you are completing the online transaction.
• Never respond to e-mail communications that you have not initiated.
• Never enter your personal data in unsolicited “pop-ups” that might appear while you are surfing the internet.
• Never provide your personal data to a tele-marketing agent on an unsolicited call.
• Revise all your account statements and report any suspicious activity.
• Immediately inform your financial institution or credit card provider when you lose your ATM, credit card, or check book. 
• Save all your ATM and credit card receipts in a safe place. Some receipts may have your account number. 
• FirstBank will never contact you to solicit personal information through e-mail or telephone. FirstBank will only ask for your personal data when you call FirstBank to request information or make a transaction or when you voluntarily use our online banking system.

Fraudulent e-mails and illegitimate Internet pages

One of the most common ways to be a victim of identity theft is to respond to fraudulent emails. This modality is also recognized as Phishing.

Identity theft through electronic means has gotten very sophisticated allowing these criminals to emulate legitimate institution’s websites, utilizing their logos and fonts to confuse the user. Even fraudulent email messages appear to be from a legitimate company.

Generally, these email messages ask the user to click on a link that sends them to a fraudulent page or attached documentation where the user is asked to enter his personal information.

If you are already a client of a financial institution, this institution will never request private or personal information through email.

Unsolicited telephone calls

Another method commonly used in identity theft is the unsolicited phone call.

If you receive an unsolicited phone call from a financial institution, avoid providing personal information.

How to protect your information when you receive a phone call

• Never provide your account numbers,
• Do not offer your card number nor expiration date.
• Do not offer your social security number or any part of it.

How to protect your commercial information

Besides all the general recommendations that apply to individuals with regards to protecting their information, commercial businesses and corporations can integrate into their systems to implement some controls to protect the company’s financial information. Some examples are:

• Maintain control and supervision of the financial activity reflected in your financial statements.
• Divide your company’s financial responsibility among various executives.
• Verify the checks written from the account.
• Save your banking documentation, including checks, deposit slips, contracts, account statements, etc., in a secure and restricted access area.
• Change your access codes and any other identity information if any suspicious event occurs or if the person in charge of the access is replaced.
• Destroy all the outdated checks and financial data that you do not want or need but have information about your company.
• Maintain constant communication with your bank about the activity and transactions in your accounts.
• Conduct periodic audits of your financial books.
• Report fraudulent intents.

If you suspect that you have received a fraudulent email or suspicious communication through the Internet, call your financial institution, credit agencies and local authorities to report fraudulent behavior and avoid subsequent problems.