January is the perfect time to start fresh and develop good habits that will serve you well in the year ahead. Here are a few of the most common new year's resolutions, tweaked to help ensure a fraud-free new year for you and your family.

Battle the Bulge

The whirl of December gaiety can often result in a spare-tire's worth of unopened statements, receipts and forgotten mail come January. Now is the time to sort through your credit card and bank statements and go through them line by line to ensure that all of the charges and withdrawals are yours. One way to help you remember is to keep all of your credit, debit and ABM receipts in a special folder that you clear out each month when your statements arrive. Not only will you ensure that you aren't a victim of fraud, but your receipts will always be available in one place should you need them. Consider filing important receipts in a separate folder to keep for the year ahead.

Start Exercising

Is your computer sluggish and unhealthy? A steady diet of spam and download snacking can make your computer old before its time. You can keep your system in tip top shape by maintaining a regimen of regular virus checks and ensuring you have anti-spam, anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computer. Run, don't walk, to the nearest computer store if you're not sure how to install these programs yourself.

Both McAfee and Symantec, two reputable technology security companies, offer a free test to determine if your computer is vulnerable to online threats. Click on the links below to access these tools:

• McAfee "Free Scan"
• Symantec

Get More Sleep

Fighting fraud involves the cooperation of businesses, individuals, law enforcement and government. It's everyone playing their role. While it's important to take steps to protect yourself and your money from fraud, don't stay awake at night worrying about being victimized. Your bank is working to protect you. Security measures are constantly being enhanced, technology is being upgraded, and the banking industry assists police in investigations to help catch the criminals and put them behind bars. Here are few common sense tips you should follow to help protect yourself from the more common sorts of scams:

• Protect your debit card PIN. Even if a criminal is able to skim your card information, it's worthless without your personal identification number. It's also important to know that you are protected from fraud on your debit card under the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services which guarantees that if you are a proven victim of fraud, you'll get your money back.
• Treat your credit and debit cards like cash and don't leave them unattended or give them to others, and report lost or stolen cards immediately. In cases of credit card fraud, you are only responsible for the maximum liability set out in your cardholder agreement (usually $50). Some cards, all Visa and MasterCards for example, offer additional protection through a zero-liability policy, which means that in proven cases of fraud, you're not responsible for fraudulent charges.
• Be suspicious of unsolicited e-mails or voicemails that have a sense of urgency and warnings that your accounts will be closed or your access limited if you don't reply. Your bank will never send you an e-mail, or call you on the phone, asking you to disclose personal information such as your credit card number, online banking password or your mother's maiden name.
• Do not give out personal information on the phone, through mail or over the Internet unless you have made the call or know who you're dealing with. Consider purchasing an inexpensive desktop shredder to dispose of receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements and credit offers you get in the mail before you dispose of them.

To find out more about fraud and security and about how banks work to protect you, or to download the CBA's free booklet, Safeguarding Your Money, visit the Fraud and Security section of the Canadian Bankers Association website.

Canada's banks take the issue of privacy, security and fraud prevention very seriously. They work hard to prevent their operations and customers from being used for any kind of financial crime and to raise awareness about the ways that customers can protect themselves.

As a consumer, you also have an important role to play in preventing fraud. This month we'll look at how to protect yourself from fraud in the year ahead.