Identity theft is growing every year, and experts have calculated that in just a decade (1999-2009) incidents of identity theft in the UK alone have risen by over 163%, and that globally over 9 million people every year are now affected by this type of crime.

It is very important that all consumers take responsibility for their own identities, and learn more about how to protect against this type of theft and also how to act quickly if they should become a victim.

How to Protect Against Identity Thieves
The most important thing to remember is that all of your personal details, from your name and address through to your bank account numbers can be utilized by identity thieves, so it is necessary to protect all aspects of your identity.  Be vigilant about what information you are throwing into the rubbish, as thieves can go through bins and dumpsters to extract key documents such as bank statements, utility bills and old identity documents, and from this they can commit a number of serious crimes.  Make sure you shred any piece of paper that contains your personal information on before you thrown it away, especially anything with your financial details on or any old identity documents such as passports, student ID cards etc.

Request copies of your credit reports and check them through to make sure all of the accounts listed are genuine, or better yet sign up to one of the identity protection services such as TrustedID, Identity Guard or LifeLock, who provide credit report monitoring and will let you know immediately if any suspicious activity takes place.  It is also a good idea to place Fraud Flags on your credit report, which means that lenders will not be able to process any applications for credit without speaking to you first to get your permission.

No comments yet.