IDENTITY THEFT REFERENCE GUIDE

Effective January 1, 2008 there was agreement of a new Legislation requiring all organizations to develop and implement a written “Identity Theft Prevention Program” to DETECT, PREVENT and MITIGATE identity theft in connection with the opening of new and existing accounts. Edgebrook Bank has developed and implemented this program, and will ensure the protection of the identity of our customers.

About Identity Theft

Identity theft, in its simplest form, occurs when someone obtains and misuses your personal information without your permission, and often times without any knowledge of the activity by you

Identity Theft Prevention

You may want to consider placing an initial fraud alert on your credit file.  A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts.  You may call any one of the three major credit-reporting companies.  As soon as one credit reporting company confirms your fraud alert, they notify other credit reporting companies to place a similar alert.

An initial fraud alert stays on your credit report for 90 days.  When you place this alert on your credit report, you will receive information about ordering one free credit report from each of the credit reporting companies.  Once you receive your reports, review them carefully for inquiries from companies you did not contact, accounts you did not open, and debts on your accounts that you cannot explain.  Verify the accuracy of your Social Security Number; address or addresses, complete name and employer(s).  Notify the credit reporting companies if any information is incorrect.

We recommend that you check your credit reports and review your account statements periodically.  This can help you spot problems and address them quickly.

In addition, under federal law you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report, at your request, from each of the major nationwide credit reporting companies once every 12 months.  To order your free annual credit report from one of all of the national credit reporting companies, visit www.annualcreditreport.com, call toll-free 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.  You can print the form from www.ftc.gov/credit.  Please do not contact the three nationwide credit-reporting companies individually.  If you ask, only the last four digits of your Social Security number will appear on your credit reports.

To learn more about how to protect yourself against identity theft, please visit www.ftc.gov or call the Federal Trade Commission hotline phone number 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).  You may call or visit the Federal Trade Commission Web site to report any incident of suspected identity theft.

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