Identity theft is a criminal activity.

The only purpose of people getting involved in Identity Theft is to steal money from the person that they are impersonating. Someone who obtains a stolen credit card can pretend to be that person and use the card illegally. But Identity Theft is much more than the illegal use of a credit card or cheque book.

If you lose a wallet or handbag with credit cards, driving licences etc. then you must immediately inform your bank and get the credit cards stopped. This is important.

If you have personal items stolen you can report the fact to the police. There is a confusion about a recent government directive. The police will not investigate fraud using stolen credit cards but they will investigate theft. Although it is not clear if they will arrest someone caught in the act of using a stolen credit card!

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The criminal will certainly buy goods such as computers, mobile phones etc, but they will go much further than this. They will open bank accounts and department store credit card accounts in your name. They will empty your bank account(s). They will use your credit cards to their limits. You will buy anything for them that they can resell for a profit!

How can criminals pretend to be me?

The simple answer is that the criminal gets hold of some piece of personal information about you, for example your Social Security number, bank account details, etc. Starting with this information, they can rapidly build a stack of information about you. It appears that anyone can get this information from various government departments!!!

If a handbag or wallet is stolen you generally know about it or will realise fairly quickly. You almost certainly have a problem if these items are stolen. Not only do the thieves have your cheque book, credit/debit cards etc, they also have all the personal information that they need to pretend to be you.

You must take action as soon as you know that a theft has occurred. Call the police if you have been mugged or your handbag/wallet has been snatched (you may need a crime number to prove that it isn't you spending over your credit limits!). Telephone your bank, go into a branch if you are not at home. Telephone your credit card company immediately (again go into a bank to get the number). You will be unpleasantly surprised how much of your money that criminals can spend in a short period of time!

Tips for Identity Security

Do not leave passwords, access codes etc lying around, especially in handbags, wallets, briefcases etc. If your cash machine pin numbers are stolen then you will not be reimbursed by the banks for any money that you lose!

Do not use your mother's maiden name to verify your identity. It can easily be obtained from the internet.

Use different identifiers/passwords for the important accounts. If you use the same password for everything then you could lose everything to the crooks!

Keep you computer up to date. Make sure that your internet security programs on your computer are up to date with the latest updates. And make sure that they are run at least once a week. You must have a firewall turned on!

Use a security vault program to hold all the data. And take backups of the vault.

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