What is Identity theft?
Your identity and personal information are valuable. Criminals can find out your personal details and use them to open bank accounts and get credit cards, loans, state benefits and documents such as passports and driving licenses in your name.
Criminals commit identity theft by stealing your personal information. This is often done by taking documents from your rubbish or by making contact with you and pretending to be from a legitimate organisation.
Identity theft can result in fraud affecting your personal financial circumstances, as well as costing government and financial services millions of pounds a year. If your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out.
The following tips will help you protect your identity and prevent criminals from committing fraud in your name:
If your plastic cards are lost or stolen, cancel them immediately. Keep a note of the emergency numbers you should call. Further details can be found at the Card Watch website.
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| Never give personal or account details to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. Be suspicious even if they claim to be from your bank or the police. Ask for their phone number, check it is genuine and, if so, call them back. Be aware that a bank will never ask for your PIN or for a whole security number or password. Keep them secure. |
| Don't use the same password for more than one account and never use banking passwords for any other websites. Using different passwords increases security and makes it less likely that someone could access any other accounts. |
| Keep your passwords safe and never record or store them in a manner which leaves them open to theft, such as in your purse or wallet. |
| If you receive a suspicious e-mail purporting to be from a bona fide institution which requests personal details, click here for advice provided by the banking industry. |
| In addition, the website www.getsafeonline.org gives advice on how to stay safe online when shopping, banking or doing business over the internet, and how to protect your computer and the personal information it contains. This includes advice about how to dispose of unwanted computers. This website has been developed by the Government, police and industry. |
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| Don't throw away entire bills, receipts, credit or debit-card slips, bank statements or even unwanted post in your name. Destroy unwanted documents, preferably by using a shredder.
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