Identity Fraud: Who Is Most At Risk
Who are the most typical victims of identity fraud? According to one fraud prevention service, it may not be who you think.
They say life begins at forty.
Financially, this certainly rings true. Not only are the more mature among us likely to be earning more, but most will have paid off debts racked up in their younger days by credit cards and overdrafts, and are now more financially solvent.
But frighteningly, if you're in your forties, you are also more likely to be a victim of identity fraud.
These are the findings of UK fraud prevention service CIFAS, which revealed that the average age of a male identity fraud victim is just over 47 years, while for women the average age is 43 years.
The ages are similar across all types of fraud, from bank accounts to insurance. CIFAS discovered that fraudsters are pretty indiscriminate when it comes to the types of products they apply for, making the identity of the victim even more the focus.
Double Vision
Identity fraud is big business, and according to the Home Office, costs us approximately £1.3 billion each year.
Criminals commit identity theft by stealing your personal information. This can be done in several ways, including fraudsters contacting you and claiming to be from a legitimate organisation.
Some thieves even search through your bins in the hope they will find bank statements and other documents they can use to open accounts in your name.
Age Before Beauty
But when it comes to the ideal prey for identity thieves, although the technology-savvy younger generation are perceived to spend more time on the net, it seems they are also taking more care with the data, and are more aware of the precautions you should be taking while online.
In addition, while people in their twenties and thirties may be footloose and fancy free, it turns out they are also more likely to be in debt.
Fraudsters target those in their forties because they are seen as more credit worthy, as opposed to younger individuals who may not be as financially solvent.
But whatever age bracket you fall into, there are seven simple measures you can take to ensure that you don't become a fraudster's next victim:
1) Make sure you check your bank statements carefully. Simple advice you may think, but during my time working at a bank, you wouldn't believe the amount of people who didn't bother to check their statements until the hole in the wall refused to give them any cash.
(By then, it was often too late. And although many got their money back, this can still take up to six weeks.)
2) As always, prevention is always better than cure. So if you have the internet, set up online banking. It's a quick, easy and safe way to make sure your accounts are no further away than a click of a button.
3) Make sure that your computer has the latest anti-virus software and that the firewall is enabled on your computer.
4) Look for the padlock on your browser, and when entering personal information such as your internet banking passwords or credit card information, make sure the address is always preceded by a `https', which means the connection is secure.
5) Once you're done checking all you statements, shred them. In fact, anything and everything bearing your name and address on it should be thrown into the jaws of your shredder. Receipts can also be valuable to a fraudster, so take care to shred these too.
6) Don't forget to keep your personal documents secure. Burglars are more often looking for identity documents such as your passport and drivers licence as opposed to your DVD player or personal computer (though keep those safe too!).
7) If you move house, redirect all your post. The Royal Mail charges £23.95 to redirect your post for six months, providing a cheap and easy way to make sure your mail doesn't get into the wrong hands.
Claiming Back Your Identity
If you do become a victim of identity fraud, you won't have to pay for anything bought without your permission (subject to your own bank's terms and conditions), unless it can be proven that you acted without reasonable care (for example by keeping your PIN written down in your purse with your card).
Identity fraud gets slightly messier when fraudsters actually take out new credit in your name, such as a credit card or mobile phone contract. Often you don't even know this is happening until you get rejected for credit yourself.
In cases like these, the first thing you should do is get a copy of your credit report (from credit reference agencies such as Experian, Equifax and Call Credit), and examine it in detail.
If you find a company on your credit file that you don't know, contact the agency and company immediately.
Make sure you keep a record of all your actions, including who you spoke to and when, together with copies of letters sent and received. The credit reference agencies may be able to help with this.
For further information on identity fraud, take a look at the Home Office guide, which gives more practical advice on how to prevent and combat it.
When it comes to identity fraud, the thought of someone walking around pretending to be you is a scary thought. But as long as you take the correct measures, there's no reason why you should ever be a victim in the first place.
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