Another great Shred Day

The beautiful weather and desire to safely destroy old documents brought more than 100 people out to shred their documents at Shred Day on Saturday. Many were cleaning out closets and attics and shredding papers going back to the 1960s! It made me think we ought to give out a prize for the person who brings the oldest document for shredding...

Many asked me what is done with the paper. In about 60 seconds, the massive shredder turns the documents safely into confetti. The bits of paper go to a paper mill that turns the bits of paper into pulp that can be turned into new paper. In 2008, Hawthorne saved more than 100 trees with our shredding program.

Our next Shred Day is August 1 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Bolingbrook branch and October 3 from 10 a.m. to nooon at the Naperville branch. See you there!

What to shred, what to keep

Shred Day is coming up again this Saturday, April 4 from 10 am to noon at our Naperville branch. Shred Day is a convenient way to shred documents with personal information and protect yourself from identity theft. We sometimes get questions about what to shred and what to keep. Below is a chart to help you out:

Shred Day success!

Shred Day was a huge success this weekend - more than 100 people showed up - some were already members and some were future members (we hope!). The truck was nearly full of personal documents, keeping identity theives from getting their hands on all that info. Plus, all the paper gets recycled. Hawthorne shredded enough paper to save 101 trees in 2008 - can you believe it? That's like a small forest! Check out our Shred Day schedule! Our next Shred Day is Sat. 3/7 at Bolingbrook Branch http://tinyurl.com/aqq84a

How much does your purse cost?

I recently had my purse stolen from a local restaurant. It happened in a flash. I turned my head for about 2 minutes and had stepped only about 3 feet away. When I turned back around, my purse was gone. A few people even saw the event - a man picked up my purse awkwardly with two hands and carried it off causing the witnesses to note how odd he looked. The restaurant's cameras caught him running away with my purse and climbing into a car. They could even see the license plate! But because no one could actually describe in detail what he looked like, the police could not track down the owner of vehicle.

By the time I replaced everything, it cost nearly $1000! Here's an estimated breakdown...notice I didn't even have designer purse or wallet!

Purse and wallet - $25
Cell phone - $300
Car keys - $279 (Keys had to be programmed at the dealer!!)
Digital camera - $200
New locks for my house - $50 (Dad did the labor for free. Thanks Dad!)
Cash - $70
Misc stuff (makeup, photos, etc.) - $50
Estimated total: $974

Fortuantely for me, my Onstar service paid for towing to the dealership so that the thief couldn't come back and steal my car. In addition to these costs, I spent hours that night cancelling all my credit cards and several weeks replacing credit cards, drivers license, etc. Reloading all my contacts into my new phone, waiting several hours at the dealership getting my keys replaced, hours driving to and waiting at the DMV for my new license.

I had no idea what an enormous hassle and expensive ordeal a seemingly simple loss would be! And I'll never let my purse out of my sight again.

Shredding: What to shred, what to keep

Hawthorne's Shred It Days get rolling again in a couple weeks - on Sat. Feb 2, we'll hold our first of 8 Shred It Days this year. They'll be held the first Saturday of every month (except July, when we're cooking up a special event, to be announced later.) For a full list of our events this year, visit eHawthorne.org. You can bring up to 3 boxes of materials to shred - don't forget your old credit cards - they can be shredded too!

Many members have asked us how to decide how long they should keep documents and what to keep and what to shred. Here's a guideline from the Consumer Reports Money Adviser, January issue and the Credit Union National Association (cuna.org):

YONKERS, N.Y. (1/8/08)—If getting rid of clutter and unnecessary paperwork
is tops on your list of things to do this month, make sure you know what you
can--and can't--shred, and when it's safe to do it (Consumer Reports Money
Adviser January).

Bills. Keep receipts for large purchases, and shred the rest after payment clears your credit union, and after the return or refund period expires.

Credit card receipts. Keep them for one year in case you need to return defective goods, then shred them.

Credit card statements. If they contain tax-related expenses, keep the statements for seven years in case you're audited by the Internal Revenue Service. Otherwise, keep them for one year and then shred them.

Credit union monthly statements. Keep monthly statements that contain tax-related expenses for seven years. Otherwise, keep them for one year and then shred them.

Investment account statements. Keep year-end statements for seven years, but you can shred monthly or quarterly statements as new ones arrive.
Retirement statements. Keep year-end statements for your 401(k), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and Keogh plans until you retire or close the account, and keep Form 8606 if you've made nondeductible IRA contributions. Shred quarterly statements after you receive your annual summary and verify that everything is correct.

Pay check stubs. Shred the stubs after you receive your annual W-2 and verify that the information is accurate. Keep the last paycheck stub of the year.

Tax records. Keep a copy of all 1040 tax forms permanently. Remember: The IRS has three years to audit your return, but if you underreport your gross income by 25% or more, the IRS has six years to challenge it. And if you file a fraudulent
return or don't file one at all, the IRS can go after you at any time.

One final tip: Cut down on the amount of paper that flows into your home. Register with the Direct Marketing Association at the-dma.org, and opt out of preapproved credit card applications at optoutprescreen.com; you'll see a dramatic decrease in the number of preapproved credit card offers and other direct mail pieces that fill your mailbox.

Also, sign up for estatements! That reduced the number of monthly statements you'll need to shred!

Everything you NEED to know about Identity Theft

News stories continue to appear about fraud committed with stolen personal information. Why is this so important? In today's information era, it is quite simply easy to have your identity stolen. As your credit union, committed to your financial safety, we feel you need to have the latest information to keep your self and your accounts safe.

Remember Hawthorne will NEVER ask for your personal information, account number, PIN, or any sensitive account information via email. If you receive an e-mail that claims to be from Hawthorne and asks for your account information- you should consider it to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain your personal account data for an illegal purpose and you should not follow the instructions in the e-mail. If you are confused or would like to verify the request, simply call 630-369-4070, 800-848-1697 (outside IL).


Some tips to help you REDUCE YOUR VULNERABILITY are listed below.

• Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".


• When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.


• Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.


• Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel in case your wallet is stolen. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards. But above all- put these photocopies in a safe place!


• Never give your account numbers or Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) to someone who contacts you. The Credit Union (and most other financial institutions) will NEVER ask for your account information or PIN numbers in an email.


• Shred anything with your Social Security Number, birth date, or account number and all credit offers.


• Don’t carry your Social Security card, extra credit cards, passport or birth certificate in your purse or wallet if not absolutely necessary.


• Reconcile your accounts immediately, and challenge any purchases that you don’t remember.


• Cancel lost credit cards immediately. However, the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep a separate list where you can find it quickly and easily.


• Report it to the Credit Union if your checkbook is stolen.


• File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your purse or wallet was stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and it is a first step toward an investigation if one is required.


• If you believe your Social Security number has been compromised, call the Social Security Administration’s fraud line to report it.


• Contact credit-reporting agencies. This is perhaps the most important and least discussed step. Call the three national credit-reporting agencies immediately and ask them to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. With an alert in place, any company checking your credit knows your information was stolen and they must contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

To Shred or Not to Shred - That is the Question!

Shred It or Regret It

It’s rampant. It's evil. It's coming to a town near you. It's IDENTITY THEFT.

Identity thieves may not exactly steal your life, or your home, but they can steal your money and make life a nightmare for you for a long time. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, identity theft is American's fastest growing crime and over 7 million people per year are victims of this crime.

I found getting ready for Shred-It Day this weekend to be particularly draining. It probably had to do with the arduous task of sifting through mounds of paper in our file cabinets. Cleaning out our files was our Friday night project (are we exciting, or what)! While my husband complained about having to go through all the files, I asked him to keep in mind the amount of time I had spent over the years, doing all of the filing.

It was hard to figure out what to keep and what to purge. Just as we cleaned out one file cabinet, I tackled another only to be met with another pile of papers to sort through.

We had to weigh out what to should keep for tax purposes, what I want to keep for sentimental reasons and what we simply don’t need. After a couple of hours be were done, and were getting rid of at least 75% of what was in our filing cabinets. I felt like a weight had been had been lifted off my shoulders.

Let The Shredding Begin

On Saturday morning it was so simple. I gave the shredding company my boxes of papers and all of those personal records were gone, saving me hours of time standing in front of our home shredder to avoid the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.

Not shredding all of our personal documents is not a risk I am willing to take. The average victim of identity theft will spend over 600 hours and $1,400 dollars of their money clearing their name after an identity thief strikes.

Below are a few easy things that you can do to help reduce the risk of having your identity stolen.

• Shred shred shred. Buy a good cross-cut shredder, and get the most heavy duty one you can afford. Be sure it will take staples and credit cards, as well as several sheets of paper at once. Shred anything with your name, address, and of course, any account numbers on it. It only takes a minute and it's worth it.


• Mail your outgoing letters and bills from the Post Office rather than your home. I know it sounds annoying, but when that little red flag is up indicating that you have outgoing mail for the postman to collect, it's also a sign for thieves to nab your mail, which often contains checks. The thieves "wash" the checks of all ink except for your signature, then poof they have a blank check, signed by you to write to whomever they want.


• Protect your Social Security Number and credit card information. There are only about a ton of email and phone scams out there these days, so don't be fooled. NEVER give personal information over the phone or in an email and, don't click through on any emails asking you to "verify your account information" or warning you that your Ebay or PayPal account has been compromised! It's just a scam to get you to input your personal information to a bogus site that will collect it and use it for fraudulent purposes.

Taking these simple steps will help reduce your risk, limit your exposure and avoid the nightmare of identity theft.

Go paperless for safer banking

I did it. I finally went paperless. I’ve been using personal finance software for several years, and paying my bills online for just as long. But paper statements from my financial institutions and credit card companies were afterthoughts. In fact, I usually thought of them only when cursing the clutter they caused and the storage space they demanded. It was not convenience or the desire to simplify that finally led me to the switch. It was security.

You and your money are more at risk if you receive paper statements than if you go 100% electronic. Here's what you need to know to go paperless.

Identity theft experts have been telling us for years that sending sensitive financial documents through the mail is a bad idea. Paper account statements and credit card bills often give mail thieves all the information they need to take over your finances.

You could lessen the danger by buying a locking mailbox and depositing outgoing mail at the post office. But you can really limit the risk by going paperless.

People who bank entirely online, using Online Banking, BillPayer and paperless statements, more commonly referred to at Hawthorne, as eStatements, reduce their chances of becoming identity theft victims by about 20%, according to researcher James Van Dyke.

If you’re tempted to follow my lead - here’s what you need to do:

Increase security on your computer. Anyone cruising the Internet should have a good firewall and software to combat pop-ups, spyware and viruses. If your financial life is on your computer, then you need to be particularly diligent about making sure you have protections in place and update the security programs regularly.

Monitor your accounts. Most online security experts recommend checking your accounts at least weekly, and I monitor mine twice a week. One easy way to stay on top of your accounts is by downloading your transactions into a personal finance software like Quicken. This financial program makes the process painless and fast, allowing you to see exactly what’s going on in your accounts.

Don’t get hooked by phishing scams. The biggest risk to your financial records may be your own gullibility. Surveys by Gartner research found 5% of the adults they surveyed had revealed personal financial information, such as account numbers and passwords, in response to e-mails “alerting” them of a problem or an update to one of their financial accounts. To find out more about how to recognize and avoid these scams, click here.

At Hawthorne we always encourage our members to take the necessary security precautions by enrolling in eStatements. You can also save time and money by taking advantage of our other online banking products. At Hawthorne Credit Union you can view your accounts online with Online Banking and pay your bills online with BillPayer .

By offering these free services as part of our first-class Online Package, we allow you to quickly and easily pay all your bills and manage your finances online. No more stamps, envelopes, check writing, or lost mail!

Stop by our Naperville branch on Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to noon and bring two bankers boxes full of old documents for free shredding (bring cancelled checks, old bank statements, credit card offers, old tax documents, etc.) and attend our Free Identity Theft seminar. We're also giving away a free document shredder, so stop in and enter.

Protect Yourself by Joining us for "Shred-It Day"!

Hawthorne Credit Union will sponsor its 1st annual “Shred-It to Prevent Identity Theft Day” on Saturday May 19th from 10 am to noon, to help raise awareness about the dangers of not properly disposing unwanted personal documents and information. A FREE Identity Theft Seminar will also be offered.

Shred-it day will allow you to bring your personal documents to the credit union to be shredded. Anything that contains drivers license numbers, social security numbers, or any account numbers, really needs to be shredded to protect your identity. The smaller shredders can be very time consuming, so this is our way of saying thank you to the community. You can bring up to two bankers boxes of documents here and have them shredded in a fraction of the time.

We have all heard stories about how incredibly unsafe it is to rip up those credit card offers you get in the mail. I found a particularly interesting story while searching the web and thought it was worth sharing with you. A man, we will call him Rob, took a credit card application that he received in the mail, ripped it up, taped it back together, filled it out using a different address (his father's), using his cell phone as a phone number, and submitted it. A few weeks later his Dad received the credit card.

Is that messed up or what? Can’t you just picture a worker at the bank opening the envelope and entering the data into the system without giving any thought about why the application was torn up and re-taped? Please learn a lesson from this!

If you rip up your credit card offers and throw them away (or even worse, don't rip them up at all), a thief can fish them out of the garbage, tape it back together, fill it out with his/her address and phone number and receive that card at his/her address, and then go shopping.

My advice: SHRED ALL CREDIT APPLICATIONS YOU RECEIVE IN THE MAIL

Some of the ways that ID thieves can get personal information include:
* Rummaging through your trash, the trash of businesses, or public trash dumps in a practice called "dumpster diving." * Stealing a wallet or purse * Stealing personal information found in the home. * Seventy-two percent of the information involved in identity theft is stolen offline by accessing paper documents.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America, with nineteen people becoming a victim every minute. Nearly ten million people fall prey to identity theft each year, costing them over six-thousand dollars on average. Don’t let yourself fall victim to this growing crime. Protect yourself by joining us at Hawthorne on May 19th for Shred-it Day!


If the response is good, you can count on future Shred It Days at Hawthorne!

Fraud Alert

We get notices a couple times a week when a new kind of scam is discovered. We'll let you know about them when we hear about them.

Here’s a scam that has been occurring in the Livonia, Michigan area. Consumers in the 734 area code have been receiving an automated telephone message that instructs them that their credit card has been compromised and they should call a toll free number to verify their account information. When they call, the scammers ask for their credit card number, PIN and expiration date.

Please be extremely careful with your credit card information and social security number. Be very careful who you give your personal information to. Identity thieves getting more clever every day. They come up with new ways to trick consumers into giving up information. Hawthorne staff will never call you or email you to ask for your personal information. If you ever get a suspicious phone call, hang up and call us right away.