It’s graduation season and we have been making the rounds honoring parents and students for such a monumental achievement. It can be an exciting and frightening time. New adventures are starting, and we hope our children are ready. Since I am not a perfect parent, I am here to share my experiences, hoping they will save you some trouble. Until our bank account was hacked, we assumed our children knew about document security– because they heard us talking about it.

When my nephew graduated from high school, we sent him a gift. He left for college with a fistful of gift cards and checks. For whatever reason, after depositing his gifts, he threw the checks into his dorm room trash, where a hall resident retrieved the account numbers. My nephew didn’t consider all the bank accounts tied to those checks he casually tossed after electronically depositing them.

We all hope our children are financially savvy. I congratulate any of you who have successfully raised a financially responsible adult. However, even the most level-headed students make mistakes as they maneuver the next stages of adulting, whether it be a first apartment, car payment, or college loan. It isn’t enough to be able to navigate a variety of social media apps, transfer money via Venmo or PayPal, or electronically deposit a paycheck.

My nephew failed to realize that an electronic deposit didn’t absolve him of his responsibility to destroy documents or checks after each deposit. His “welcome to college” included a not-so-reputable hallmate who fished through the garbage, Photoshopped a few extra zeros onto each tossed check, and electronically deposited the modified graduation checks into his account. (Mind you, this person was not a master criminal and was easily traced by the police. He may not have been a criminal before, but he is most definitely one now.) Thankfully, our bank notified us of suspicious account activity, as we saw our mortgage payment transfer to a Midwestern account.

It was embarrassing for my nephew, who “knew better,” and trying to regain our stolen funds was stressful for us. I’m not sure everyone involved was as fortunate. The experience allowed us to stress to our children the importance of destroying personal documents and updating security measures on their online accounts.

We can all get complacent with the ease of online banking and immediate transfers of funds. Please be careful. Make sure your future adults know which documents need to be destroyed. Papers can be shredded, soaked in water or burned if allowed (such as bank or credit card statements, taxes after four years, pay stubs and any forms with social security or license numbers). If all incoming statements are online, please opt for any/all means of securing the account, like two-step verification. Make changing passwords a seasonal habit, every three to four months. Congratulations to all graduates! Stay safe!