Identity theft happens when someone else uses your identifying information, such as your name, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, or account numbers, for their own personal gain. Identity theft can happen to anyone, regardless of age, where you live or your income status. And unfortunately there is no way to prevent it from happening to you. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 11 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2009. As a result, recent regulation enacted by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) requires that we put in place additional measures to safeguard your account and our financial institution.
Although Covenant has many safeguards in place to protect your information, we want to be sure that you never suffer from the effects of identity theft, if it happens. We are pleased to announce our new professional identity theft recovery program at Covenant Health Credit Union that provides benefits for both our credit union and our account holders. Beginning July 1, 2010, professional identity theft recovery services will be added as a benefit to all member share draft/checking accounts.
We want to add additional value to our relationship with our members, so we have arranged for professional identity theft research and recovery benefits to extend beyond your share draft accounts with us to all types of identity theft that you or your family members may experience – covering both financial and non-financial fraud.
You can feel secure knowing that if you or a family member* suspect you are a victim of identity theft, we will provide access to a certified identity recovery advocate who will place fraud alerts at the three major credit bureaus for you; help you access services to watch for signs of identity theft; and access your credit reports and conduct a threat assessment to determine if any identity theft has occurred. If you are the victim of identity theft, your advocate will work on your behalf to restore your identity and make sure you stay recovered – no matter how long it takes.
Beginning July 5, 2010, a security service charge of $2.00 per month may have been debited from your account. This charge helps the credit union offset these and other security measures to fight identity theft and fraud, as well as other expenses.
For details, please contact us at 865-541-1239. To learn more about identity theft, please visit www.idtheftedu.com
*Services extend to all named account holders, their spouse or domestic partner, dependants up to age 25 with the same permanent residence address as the account holder, including students and military, and parents of the account holder living at the same address as the account holder, or living in hospice, assisted living, nursing home or deceased for 12 months or less.
For additional information about Identity Theft Protection, click here
For Education Tools to fight Identity Theft, click here.