A little knowledge can go a long way. Especially when it comes to protecting yourself from money scams. As your bank, NewAlliance wants to help by passing along to you some useful tips provided by the FBI on things to watch out for:

• Lotteries. Unless you've entered a lottery, chances are you haven't won one. Watch out for notifications that say that you did - especially if the notification is from Canada, Australia, El Gordo or El Mundo.
• Wiring Money. If you receive a check from an individual, a U.S. city or a foreign country, question it. Especially if they want you to wire money back to them.
• Incentive Offers. Someone offers to deposit money in your account. But first you have to send them money. Or they offer to pay you to help them transfer money through your account. These incentives are most likely a scam. Be particularly aware if the offer is from an individual from Canada, England or Nigeria.
• Checks that exceed sales price. You sell an item over the Internet and the check you receive is higher than the selling price. Of course, you're tempted to keep it. But don't. It could be a scam.
• Phishing. NewAlliance Bank never asks its customers to provide account information by email. No legitimate business should. If you ever receive an email request from an unfamiliar source, no matter how authentic it looks or sounds, ignore it.

If you think you've been a victim of one of these or any other money scams, we're here to help. Just ask a NewAlliance Bank representative how. Or contact the National Fraud Information Center at www.fraud.org or 1-800-876-7060.