Pacific Capital Bancorp
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Secure Your Personal Information
By storing your personal information in a locked container, you can provide a layer of security against identity theft. We also recommend the following to protect your personal information from possible identity theft:
- Do Not Carry Your Social Security Card: Keep your card in a secure place at home.
- Personal Information On The Phone: Only give out personal information over the phone when you have initiated contact. Someone may be impersonating a company representative, so verify the contact is legitimate by calling the company back at the customer service number found in the phone book or on your account statement.
- Secure All Financial Statements: Tax Returns, Account Statements, Check Books, Birth Certificates or other personal information should be stored securely in your home. Do not leave it unsecured where it could be accessed by roommates, workmen or guests.
- Destroy Your Mail: Any Credit Card offers, Financial Service offers, or Account Statements you plan on throwing away should be shredded then discarded. Personal information can be obtained by a thief who goes looking in the trash for mail (known as dumpster diving).
- Computer and Internet Usage: If you store personal information on the computer, you may benefit from taking these precautions:
- Use Virus Protection Software and update the software regularly. Setup automatic updates, if available.
- Update your Operating System and Internet Browser Software regularly. Setup automatic updates, if available.
- When transferring confidential information over the internet, make sure the connection is secure by looking for the secure lock icon in the browser status bar.
- Never open up email from addresses that you don't know. Also, don't open files or click on links from unknown email addresses. You may accidentally install spyware programs on your computer that can collect information about you.
- Remember That We will never email you asking for personal information. Watch out for email scams that appear to ask for you to update your account information by clicking a link. Always contact the company first by calling the customer service telephone number on your account statement or in the phone book; or type in the company's URL into your browser and then proceed to login to your account.
For more information on preventing Identity Theft and other resources, please see the Federal Trade Commission's ID Theft Web Page
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