Receiving and paying your bills online instead of through postal mail is a good idea. It’s not only convenient, but it also helps fight identity theft and other types of fraud (the fewer pieces of paper floating around in the world with your personal information on them, the better).

But your financial accounts may offer online features you’re not taking advantage of just yet. Most credit card providers and deposit institutions (i.e. credit unions and banks) that offer online access also offer alerts that let you know when activity has occurred on your account. Alerts can be an important tool in detecting unusual transactions or changes as early as possible.

Every financial provider is different, but many will offer alerts for new charges or withdrawals. Other options may include notifications for a change of address, phone number, email address or other contact information. Remember that identity thieves will sometimes attempt to change these details in an existing account in order to hide their activities from the victim. If you get an alert that your address has been changed (and you’re not the one who did it), it’s time to contact that institution and report the suspicious activity.