We share the essential tips you need to know to protect yourself against identity theft.
Identify fraud is the fastest growing crime in the UK and is becoming a huge problem. Despite this many of us are not taking the precautions needed to protect ourselves. This is largely because, like most crimes, we all assume that id fraud is something that happens to other people and its not until we experience it first hand that we realise how disrupting this 'virtual crime' can be.
The Risk
Once your personal details fall into the wrong hands you could unwittingly have loans, credit agreements and even passports taken out in your name, rubbishing your credit history and potentially lamping you with thousands of pounds of debt in one fell swoop. The worrying thing is that it’s possible to do this without having your bank details - your address and date of birth can be enough for a fraudster to carry out transactions in your name.
While the vast majority of identity fraud is rectifiable once spotted, unless you check your credit report regularly it’s possible that you could go years without noticing something untoward. What’s more, even once fraudulent anomalies are identified it can take months to sort them out and even longer to wipe the damage from your credit history - something that can be incredibly inconvenient.
Having said this it is quite simple to protect yourself against identity fraud; it’s just a matter of being vigilant and keeping your personal information secure - we explain how.....
When to protect your mail
If you move house, arrange to have your mail redirected to your new home for at least a year. It’s likely that you'll have to pay for this service but it will prevent anyone getting their hands on your correspondence. You should also notify your credit card companies of your move along with any other businesses you have dealings with.
You should never throw away any old bills, bank statements or personal correspondence without shredding them first. It’s best to use a 'cross-cut' rather than a 'strip' shredder as these do a much better job of destroying your information.
How to keep your personal information personal
Cancel any lost or stolen credit cards as soon as they go missing; this will help to minimise any collateral damage. It can be useful to keep the relevant contact numbers to hand and copies of both the front and back of all your cards hidden in a safe place at home so that your account numbers and sort codes are accessible in an emergency.
Keep your passwords and pin numbers in a very safe place (your head alone is best!) and never ever written down in your wallet or diary (or any other equally obvious place). It’s strongly advisable to use different passwords for different accounts otherwise theoretically if someone can access one of your accounts, they can access all of them.
Check any statements for unauthorised transactions as soon as you receive them and notify your bank immediately if you notice anything 'dodgy'.
How to play it safe online
Use only reputable websites and only ever enter your personal details on secure websites signified by 'https://' at the start of the url and a padlock or key symbol displayed on the webpage.
Your bank or any other financial institution will never contact you by email asking you for your personal details. If you receive an email of this nature delete it straight away and never click on any links enclosed. These particular scams are known as phishing and exist with the aim of transferring you to a look a like site and capturing your personal details.
Ensure your computer (and any computer you enter your details into) has an up to date firewall and anti-virus software installed, this will help prevent hackers gaining access to your personal information while you're online.
What to watch for when you're out and about
When taking cash out from an ATM look for signs of tampering - does there appear to be something stuck on the front, is it different to how usual cash machines look? If you notice anything suspicious report it to the police or bank and under no circumstance place your card in it. Additionally, as you type your PIN number into a cash machine, use your other hand to shield what your doing from view.
Never let anyone disappear with your cards regardless of where you are and what you're paying for, most establishments now have portable card machines but unfortunately this does mean saying goodbye to bar tabs.
While no one is infalible, by taking these few precautions you should be able to protect yourself and your identity from fraud.
