Identity Theft and Fraud Security
Identity Theft
Criminals commit identity theft by stealing your personal information. This is often done by taking documents from your rubbish or by making contact with you and pretending to be from a legitimate organisation.
Identity theft can result in fraud affecting your personal financial circumstances, as well as costing government and financial services millions of pounds a year. If your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out.
The Home Office website has some excellent information with lots of additional advice including:
• What if it happens to you?
• Who can help?
• What is being done?
The following tips will help you protect your identity and prevent criminals from committing fraud in your name:
Keep Your Personal Information Secure
Your identity and personal information are valuable assets. Keep them secure.
Regularly obtain a copy of your personal credit file from one of the credit reference agencies to see which financial organisations have accessed your details. It is particularly helpful to check your personal credit file 2-3 months after you have moved house.
Be extra careful if you live in a property where other people could have access to your mail. In some cases a bank or credit card company could arrange for you to collect valuable items such as new plastic cards or cheque books from a local branch.
If you suspect your mail is being stolen, contact the Royal Mail Customer Enquiry Line: 08457 740 740. Check whether a mail redirection order has been made in your name without your knowledge.
If you move house, tell your bank, card issuer and all other organisations that you deal with immediately. Ask the Royal Mail to redirect any mail from your old address to your new one for at least a year.
Consider using the Mailing Preference Service to limit the amount of unwanted mail you receive.
Keep Your Documents Safe
Keep your personal documents in a safe place, preferably in a lockable drawer or cabinet at home. Consider storing valuable financial documents such as share certificates with your bank.
If your passport or driving licence has been lost or stolen contact the issuing organisation immediately.
Don't throw away entire bills, receipts, credit or debit card slips, bank statements or even unwanted post in your name. Destroy unwanted documents, preferably by using a shredder.
Check statements as soon as they arrive. If any unfamiliar transactions are listed, contact the company concerned immediately.
Keep Your Plastic Cards Safe
If your plastic cards are lost or stolen, cancel them immediately. Keep a note of the emergency numbers you should call. Further details can be found at the Card Watch website.
When giving your card details or personal information over the phone, Internet or in a shop, make sure other people cannot hear or see your personal information.
Never carry documents or plastic cards unnecessarily. When not in use keep them in a safe place.
Keep Your Passwords and PINs Safe
Never give personal or account details to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. Be suspicious even if they claim to be from your bank or the police. Ask for their phone number, check it is genuine and, if so, call them back. Be aware that a bank will never ask for your PIN or for a whole security number or password. Keep them secure.
Don't use the same password for more than one account and never use banking passwords for any other websites. Using different passwords increases security and makes it less likely that someone could access any other accounts.
Keep your passwords safe and never record or store them in a manner which leaves them open to theft, such as in your purse or wallet.
If you receive a suspicious e-mail purporting to be from a bona fide institution which requests personal details do not reply, institutions should never ask for personal information over e-mail.
In addition, the website www.getsafeonline.org gives advice on how to stay safe online when shopping, banking or doing business over the internet, and how to protect your computer and the personal information it contains. This includes advice about how to dispose of unwanted computers. This website has been developed by the Government, police and industry.
Corporate Identity Fraud
Companies and their directors can also fall victim to identity fraud. Criminals can seek to commit corporate identity fraud in a variety of different ways, including by fraudulently changing a company's registered details at Companies House. Companies House has a 3 point plan to help companies protect against corporate identity fraud and safeguard the personal information of their directors. This involves filing information online (WebFiling), signing up to submitting all papers online (PROOF), and subscribing to an alert system that notifies companies when changes to their details are made (Monitor). More information about these services and combating corporate identity fraud can be found at www.companieshouse.gov.uk.
Further information for businesses about avoiding scams, including identity theft, can be found at www.businesslink.gov.uk under the "IT and e-commerce" section.
Protecting the Identity of Deceased Family Members
Criminals sometimes use the identities of deceased persons to commit fraud, which can be very distressing for those close to the deceased. One way of reducing the chances of this happening is to register with services that remove the deceased's details from mailing lists.
The following websites offer deceased person mail preference services and provide further information on this issue:
• The Bereavement Register - www.the-bereavement-register.org.uk
• Deceased Preference Service - www.deceasedpreferenceservice.co.uk
• Mailing Preference Service - www.mpsonline.org.uk
ATM Fraud
ATM fraud is a growing problem with techniques getting more advanced all of the time. The following document provides some valuable advice on what techniques the thieves use and how to avoid getting your card 'skimmed'.
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