Identity Theft Week 2026

From the President's Desk...

The week of January 26-30 has been designated as Identity Theft Awareness Week. Sadly, this is a crime that continues to evolve over time, and it remains a very real threat. Statistics show 22% of Americans have experienced identity theft in their lifetime. We at WCF are doing all we can to spread the word and provide information and preventative measures to help our customers protect themselves.

Identity theft began decades ago as activity largely driven by stolen physical documents. The advent of the internet in the 1990s, and the use of social media that is commonplace today, has made identity theft more prevalent. Consider how much of your personal information is now available for the world to see online. Google your name, take a critical look at your Facebook profile, and you’ll be stunned at the details about you that exist. The bad guys use that information to do all sorts of nefarious things, all with the same goal in mind – accessing your financial accounts to steal your money or securing loans or credit cards in your name. Once the money is gone, and you eventually find out about it, your chances of getting it back are slim.

To best protect yourself and reduce your risk, consider taking these steps:

• Freeze your credit report (contact Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union each directly).
• Review your credit report (utilize annualcreditreport.com).
• Set up account activity alerts (you can do this with WCF online or with our banking app).
• Review and change, if necessary, your social media privacy settings.
• Use strong and unique passwords with MFA (multi factor authentication).
• Limit the amount of personal information and details you share online and on social media.

In today’s world, there is no guarantee that you can avoid identity theft. However, by planning ahead of time and taking some simple steps as outlined above, you can greatly reduce your risk and exposure.