About ID Theft
What is Identity Theft?
Identity Theft is where someone obtains your name, date of birth, address or some other piece of your personal information, without your knowledge or consent. It’s then used to obtain goods or services in your name.
How do they get your information?
Criminals have become smarter at getting hold of personal information. With nothing to stop them, they can find out about you from:
- Your dustbin
Ever stopped to think about the amount of personal information that is held on items that you throw away? Old utility statements, everyday receipts, direct mail, even personal letters, all carry valuable information that can be gathered to steal your identity without you even realising.
- Unsolicited calls
Any calls from organisations like banks, buildings societies and utility companies asking you to update your personal information held on file should be treated with caution, as this is a common way of obtaining valuable information.
- Phishing
You get an email from your bank, buildings society, or credit card company. The email looks genuine and asks that you update your personal information. The link in the email takes you to a website which looks legitimate. It isn’t. Any details you submit on this website can then be used to obtain money from your actual account.
- Card Skimming
Copying your card details, or ‘card skimming’, can happen when you use your card to pay for something – a tank full of petrol or a meal out, for example. The details are used to develop a ‘clone’ of your card which is sold to professional criminal gangs or used to collect other information about you.
- Moving House
When moving house, many still rely on the new owners to forward their mail. By not redirecting your mail properly, you can be left vulnerable to fraudsters – they can get valuable information about you from mail delivered to your old address.
How can criminals use your identity?
They can
- Open a bank account and use the debit card or cheques
- Purchase high value items such as cars or holidays with a loan taken out in your name
- Take out mobile phone contracts and obtain handsets which can then either be used or sold on
- Write to credit card issuers to change statements and have them transferred from your address. Without receiving regular statements you are unlikely to know about the debts until it becomes a problem and starts to affect your credit rating
- Obtain goods from Mail Order catalogues
- Apply for benefits