News Releases

Fastest Growing Crime Hits Kokomo Area
Harris to hold seminar on Bank Fraud and Identity Theft

KOKOMO, IN., JULY 9, 2008 - Identify theft is the fastest growing crime in America with bank fraud following closely behind. To help educate the public about these crimes, Harris Bank, in conjunction with the Indiana Attorney General's office, will hold a fraud seminar on Thursday, August 7th. The two-hour session will begin at 9:30AM and will be held at Rozzi's Continental Ballroom, 9220 Millbrook Lane in Kokomo.

"Many Kokomo area residents—especially senior citizens have fallen victim to financial fraud and are likely to be targeted more than once," said Sally Duke, Harris Pacesetter manager, "That's why Harris is committed to helping our citizens protect themselves, and we can best do this through education."

Several fraud crime professionals will be on the agenda that day. Horacio Isais, Harris Corporate Security investigator, will show how telemarketing and mass marketing fraud schemes entice their victims, predominately the elderly, by promising them large lottery or prize winnings in exchange for a relatively smaller service fee or tax, and once the fee is received, the promised funds are never delivered. Isais said estimated fraud losses to U.S. elderly citizens, exceeds $500 million annually.

John O'Donnell, regional president, Harris and LeeAnn Redding, operations manager, Harris will both be present at the seminar. Redding will discuss how identity theft is generally perpetrated to facilitate other crimes, such as credit card fraud, check fraud or mortgage fraud. She will address online banking and credit/debit card theft as by far the most prevalent, and discuss financial crimes. Armed with a person's information, an identity thief can open new accounts in the name of a victim, borrow funds in the victim's name or take over and withdraw funds from existing accounts of the victim, such as their checking account or their home equity line of credit. Redding will also show how Harris is trying to work with all their customers to prevent this from happening.

Attorney General Office Spokesperson for the ID Theft Unit, J. Michelle Sybesma, said identity theft has emerged as one of the dominant white collar crime problems of the 21st Century. She said ID theft can even include evading detection by law enforcement in the commission of violent crimes. ID theft takes many forms, but generally includes the acquiring of an individual's personal information such as Social Security number, date of birth, mother's maiden name, account numbers, address, etc., for use in criminal activities.

Sybesma, herself a victim of ID theft and founder of GetIDSmart.com , will inform participants of steps to take to protect themselves and how the Attorney General’s office can assist them should it happen.

The fraud seminar will end with a question and answer period. The session is open to the public. Seating is limited. Reservations can be made by calling 765-868-3451.

Harris has been helping its customers and the communities it serves for over 125 years and has more than 270 full-service locations and more than 600 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.

About Harris:
Harris is an integrated financial service organization providing more than 1 million personal, business and corporate clients with banking, lending, investing and wealth management solutions. The organization is a member of the BMO Financial Group (NYSE, TSX: BMO), which also provides corporate and investment banking services in the U.S. under the BMO Capital Markets name. For more information, please visit www.bmocm.com or www.harrisbank.com.

Harris^® is a trade name used by various financial service subsidiaries of Harris Financial Corp. Banking products and services are provided by Harris N.A., The Harris Bank, N.A. and their bank affiliates. Members FDIC. Brokerage products are offered through Harris Investor Services, Inc. (HIS), a registered broker/dealer, member FINRA/SIPC, and SEC registered investment adviser. Insurance and annuities are offered through Harris Bancorp Insurance Services, Inc. (HBIS). Securities are provided by BMO Capital Markets Corp. (BMOCM), a registered broker dealer and member NYSE, FINRA and SIPC. HIS, HBIS and BMOCM are affiliated companies and are wholly owned subsidiaries of Harris Financial Corp. Products offered by HIS, HBIS and BMOCM are Not Insured by the FDIC or any Federal Government Agency, Not a Deposit of or Guaranteed by Any Bank or Bank Affiliate, May Lose Value. The purchase of insurance or an annuity is not a condition to any bank loan or service. Financial planning and investment advisory services are provided by Sullivan, Bruyette, Speros & Blayney, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser. Family Office Services are provided by Harris myCFO, Inc. Investment advisory services are offered by Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of Harris myCFO, Inc. Not all products and services are offered in every state and/or location.