Following the $2 billion trading loss, Ina R. Drew is expected to hand her resignation in to executive Jamie Dimon. After over thirty years with the financial institution, Ms. Drew’s resignation is finally set to be accepted, although she has attempted to resign several times as continued allegations of financial misconduct and consecutive trading losses have mounted for the company. Until now, Dimon has declined to accept Drew’s resignation. However, reports say that early in the coming week, her resignation will be final. This is potentially the first of several resignations to come in the wake of the financial fallout at JPMorgan Chase.

Drew has been a trusted executive at the company and among industry professionals and analysts, so her resignation, along with the resignation of several of her staff, comes as a shocking resolution to the debacle that has unfolded. Although colleagues say that the blunders by Drew were minor in relation to many of the recent mistakes of the institution and other executives, she will be taking the fall as the public searches for someone to take responsibility and looks for an indication that the industry and JPMorgan Chase are ready to make changes that will benefit shareholders, investors and the economy.

The losses under Drew were due to gambles on market derivatives, according to other staff members at the financial institution. Potentially, these investments could have had the opposite effect–saving the company from financial downfall and preventing the loss of capital. Unfortunately, the market turned unexpectedly and the losses began climbing rapidly and uncontrollably. For Drew, who was the fourth highest paid executive at JPMorgan Chase, earning over $14 million in salary last year, it looks like this market turn will signal the end.

If you’ve received a collection call recently, you either know why you’re getting it—because you have unpaid debt that you know about—or you have no idea why those insanely insistent people keep bugging you. Did you know that even if you’re financially responsible and don’t know of any outstanding debt, you can still receive collection calls that require action? The worst thing you can do is ignore a collection call, whether you’re expecting it or not.

When you get a call from someone claiming to be a collection agent, you should do several things to ensure your financial security.

First, verify that the caller is from a legitimate collection company. Ask what company they’re calling from and if you can call them back later that day. Take down a number where they can be reached and write down their company name. Search online to verify that both the company and phone number are legitimate before giving out any personal information.

If they are not legitimate, you should report them to the FCC and ignore future calls. If you confirm that they are legitimate, you need to call them back as soon as possible to investigate why they are calling you. If you have outstanding debt that you know about, the collection agency can talk to you about payment options or other means of resolving your debt. Even if you suspect a mistake, you still need to call back in order to protect your credit and identity.

You can owe money to a collection agency for several reasons other than simply failing to pay bills. Someone else may have stolen your credit card information or other personal information and may be making purchases to debt in your name. Similarly, someone may have managed to transfer their debt to your name by claiming to be a relative. Or, the credit company may simply have the wrong billing information listed or have you confused with someone who has a similar name or number. In any of these situations, it is important for you to resolve the issue as soon as you start receiving calls or letters.

If you’ve lost personal information or identification, or if it has been stolen from you, taking certain steps quickly can minimize the potential for identity theft.

Financial accounts: Close accounts, like credit cards and bank accounts, immediately. When you open new accounts, password protect them. Avoid using your mother’s maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number (SSN) or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.

Social Security number: Call the toll-free fraud number of any of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies and place an initial fraud alert on your credit reports. An alert can help stop someone from opening new credit accounts in your name.

Driver’s license/other government-issued identification: Contact the agency that issued the license or other identification document. Follow its procedures to cancel the document and to get a replacement. Ask the agency to flag your file so that no one else can get a license or any other identification document from them in your name.

Once you’ve taken these precautions, watch for signs that your information is being misused. If your information has been misused, file a report about the theft with the police, and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, as well.

If another crime was committed -  for example, if your purse or wallet was stolen or your house or car was broken into – report it to the police immediately.

Most banks make every effort possible to educate customers about safety and security. A bank’s daily process and operating procedures are usually sufficient to monitor, detect, prevent and mitigate instances of identity theft. If you have any questions, please contact your bank’s compliance department or visit www.ftc.gov.

Westfield Bank offers these tips on how you can be safer from cyber crime.

1. Be cautious about information you share on online communities, especially social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

2. Create difficult passwords for all online savings and checking accounts and PIN numbers. Choose various passwords so that if one of your passwords is ever compromised you won’t have to worry about all of your accounts.

3. Purchase a good anti virus software for your computer. Many programs now come with”total protection” systems that will safeguard your online experience and the data stored on your computer. This will keep your computer from being infected with viruses, malware or spyware.

4. Be cautious about using photos for your online profiles. Don’t post photos that can be harmful to your reputation.

5. Safe keep all of your personal information including your full name, address, phone number, social security number, account numbers, and passwords. Do not place such personal information on your multi-media devices such as computers, mp3 players, and cell phones. Shred all paperwork with such personal information on it.

6. Check your bank statements monthly to ensure there are no unusual transactions.

7. When you shop online make sure you are using a secure website, like ones with a URL address that begins with “https” and/or businesses that have had their website certificate verified by companies like Verisign.

8. Use your email provider’s spam mail filters in order to block unwanted viruses on your computer.

9. Order your yearly free credit report from all three credit bureaus. If someone is illegally using your social security number this is the easiest way to find out.

10. Report any crime including harassment to the authorities right away. There may be laws in your state that can protect you and your family.

Did you know?

Some statistics about identity theft in the United States:

• According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year and that number is growing rapidly.
• If your identity is stolen, the FBI reports that it will take you on average six months of effort and $6,000 cash to get your life back.
• Monitoring your accounts remains the single most effective way to detect identity theft. Yet 76 percent of people have never requested the free copy of their credit report that they are entitled to annually.
• Identity theft is now the fastest growing category of crime in the developed world, where thieves use people’s personally identifying information to open new accounts and misuse existing accounts, creating havoc for consumers and businesses.

During your busy day, you may write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets to a sporting event, rent a movie, mail check payments, change service providers for your cell phone, or apply for a credit card. Chances are you don’t give these everyday transactions a second thought, but an identity thief does.

Cyber identity theft is the use of computers and communication systems to steal an electronic copy of information. Stealing this information often goes undetected and rarely, if ever, is the criminal discovered or apprehended.

Cyber thieves who steal personal information online do so to take an individual’s personal information and use the information to create a new identity in which to commit illegal activities or to use for other purposes.

Despite your best efforts to manage the flow of your personal information or to keep it to yourself, skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods to gain access to your data.

There are some cyber thieves who use stolen information to obtain Social Security Numbers and to commit credit card fraud. Also, some thieves use stolen identities to apply for a job under the name of another person’s identity. They may even find their way into your personal checking account or a savings account.

Stealing the information of the individual can be accomplished through any computer and communication devices connected online via the Internet. Hackers use deficiencies in operating systems to infiltrate computers to destroy data and steal information.