Identity Theft
What is identity theft?
There are two issues:
A thief can pretend to be you simply by stealing a cheque book, personal bills, or details through an open source (internet, births and deaths registers etc). Such details may allow the thief to open bank accounts, gain credit cards, loans, state benefits, or simply to take over your existing accounts. The details may also be used to obtain genuine documents such as passports and driving licences in your name. The second part of the problem is the use of your identity to commit fraud.
Most common methods
- Calling victims pretending to be their bank, or other financial institution and asking customers to confirm their personal details, passwords and security numbers.
- Fraudulently acquiring sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy financial institution on the internet.
- Using malicious software such as spyware, which can collect personal information from personal computers. The victim does not discover this until it is too late.
- Gathering of personal details posted on the web, such as on social networking sites like Bebo, MySpace or Facebook.
- Stealing mail left in communal areas of residential properties or thrown out in the rubbish.
- Stealing personal data from a wallet or purse or in a burglary.
Protect yourself!
Be careful with your personal information. If you receive a telephone call from a credit card company, bank or other retail company asking to confirm certain details about yourself, decline them and ask to call them back, preferably through a central switchboard. Never give out personal details or passwords.
When destroying personal correspondence such as bank and credit card statements, consider a shredder or even burning them with garden refuse. If you cannot do either then tear the papers up into very small pieces and place in the refuse bin with other waste products.
If you move house, remember to inform all of the companies that send personal information to you in the post. Always consider re-directing your post with Royal Mail. If you fail to do this, people moving in might have free access to your personal details and misappropriate them.
Always use an anti-virus programme and firewall on your computer. Beware of unsolicited emails. Do not respond to emails that have apparently originated from your bank or other authority / company.
Remember that a bank will not ask for your details via unsolicited emails.
Do not post personal details on the internet, which could collectively be used to clone your identity.
Instruct your bank not to accept any payments abroad unless previously authorised.
