Don't be a victim of ID fraud
Make sure fraudsters don't steal your identity.
One of the fastest growing crimes these days is identity theft. Fraudsters pretend that they’re you and use your identity to get credit and spend money.
If that happens to you, your credit rating will probably be damaged, and it’ll be harder for you to get a new credit card or mortgage.
You could also end up out of pocket – at least initially. Sorting out the whole mess can take as long as a year.
And don’t assume it won’t happen to you. Experian, the credit reference company, reckons that approximately two million people in the UK have been victims of ID fraud.
So here are some steps you can take to make sure your identity isn’t stolen:
1. Don’t use the same password again and again
The average Brit has logins for 26 different accounts and websites. Yet he only uses five passwords spread between those sites.
The prudent approach is to have a different password for every single site. Then if fraudsters got your, say, your linkedin login, they still wouldn’t be able to access your credit card.
2. Use complex passwords
The best passwords are at least ten characters long. Mix up numbers and letters, and use upper case and lower case.
3. Don’t get caught out by phishing emails
If you see an email supposedly coming from your bank, be very wary. Don’t give away your account details to anyone online. Your bank would never ask you for any sensitive information online.
4. Make sure you’ve got good anti-virus protection on your computer
Read Kit out your PC for free for information on how to get free anti-virus software.
5. Check your bank account and credit cards frequently
Make sure there are no strange transactions going through.
6. Check your credit rating
If someone is fraudulently using your identity, that may well affect your credit score. In other words, banks may be more reluctant to lend to you.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have one single credit score. There are three main credit rating companies that provide credit information to the banks. The banks then decide whether they’re willing to lend to you or not.
If you want to see what information the credit rating companies have on you, they’re obliged to tell you if you pay £2. Or you can sign up for a free 30-day trial with the Experian CreditExpert product which will give you easy access to your information.
And if you’re particularly keen, you could continue using CreditExpert once the trial is over and pay £14.99 a month. That's a lot of money and many people won't want to pay that much. But the service does include a web monitoring facility that will flag up any suspicious activity promptly. That web monitoring facility will flag up any suspicious activity, so it may be worth considering.
More on ID fraud:
how to protect your PINs and passwords
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Comments
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I have a French bank account. It sounds a lot like the LloydsTSB mentioned above. when I log in, a random keypad appears on screen, and I use the mouse to select each letter and number. No chance for a key logger here. If I add a new recipient, I am sent a code by text to activate that payee. Most importantly, my branch manager actually knows me, so when I call the bank, she can easily identify me. My wife thinks this is bad, as she is drop dead gorgeous!
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Ahh, but that is why I put... [b](It is actually a little bit more complicated than that, but you get the general idea)[/b] ...in parenthesis. But, remember to back before the Credit Crunch hit, when all of us were receiving unsolicited application forms for credit where all we had to do was sign a box and send back in the prepaid envelope? Basically, scamsters were getting hold of these application forms before us, and sending them back with a false signature (who checks a signature is genuine these days?), then waiting for the money to hit the nominated account, which probably was a hijacked account anyway. The argument many had with institution who blamed them for the ID theft was that these application forms were NOT requested, therefore the so-called victim of ID Theft was absolutely blameless. If, on the other hand, they had requested an application for credit, and had failed to report that the documents had not arrived within a reasonable period of time, they would have been culpable. I was wholly against this wholesale application spamming, simply because of the dangers of application forms getting into the wrong hands. I still think that credit should only be offered to those who request it first, rather than being offered unsolicited (this is still happening even today). It is also imperative that any lending organisation validate the identity of the person requesting the credit to the best of their ability. It might not stop all imposters, but it will stop most. As for online security, which is what this article is really about, it is down to individuals to educate themselves to the dangers of being online. Ignorance is not acceptable in this digital age. We all need to know the dangers that face us, and we all need to be prepared. After all, the BBC have the Real Hustle to demonstrate how we can be robbed, which includes examples of digital thefts, such as keystroke loggers, and how they can be used to determine our passwords. (Actually, LloydsTSB have quite a good security setup, from their memorable information entry that requires you to select letters from a dropdown box (bypassing a keylogger completely), to texting you when something suspicious appears to be happening with your account, to questioning you when setting up a new recipient).
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It is a fair point CuNNaXXa but I don't see anyone getting a loan that easily. My experience is that you would need a lot more ID than just an address. You would need a passport, recent household bill etc. However I take the point that the bank who lost the money is the real victim.
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23 July 2012