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Online identity theft: what is it and how can i stop it?

by Josef Kafka

Identity theft is a very real threat in 2018 and can cause huge damage to people’s lives. Levels of identity theft are at an all-time high, with a total of 89,000 cases reported to Cifas, the UK anti-fraud organisation, in the first six months of 2017. At 1st Call Detectives, we are committed to our client’s online security and we’ve put together this simple guide to identity theft and steps you can take to avoid it.

What is identity theft?

Identity theft is when your personal information is taken without your consent and used to pretend to be you. This can be done for a number of reasons, like using your account information to buy things online, taking out loans in your name and taking money from your bank account. Identity thieves can also use stolen identities if they commit other crimes, like drug smuggling, money laundering and gaining entry to other countries under a fake identity. Identity theft is committed by criminals and can be totally devastating to individuals.

Why is identity theft so serious?

Though you may never meet the person who took your identity, their actions can have serious consequences for you and your life. As mentioned earlier, if a crime is committed by someone using your identity, this can place you under police suspicion, with proving that your identity was stolen a sensitive and difficult task. In 2016, 88% of fraudulent applications for bank accounts were made online and this can have very real consequences for you. It can also have serious financial implications, from actually stealing your money to also affecting your credit rating, making mortgages and loans more difficult to access.

How do criminals get hold of your personal information?

There are several ways people can get hold of your personal information. One way is through hacking into companies who haven’t got adequate security, for example in the 2015 TalkTalk hack where 157,000 customers had their personal details accessed, including 15,656 bank accounts and sort codes. Since then companies have been under more pressure to increase their online security and better protect individual’s personal information but it is still a real concern. Another way identity thieves can take your personal information is through using your social media and other information about yourself that has been made public online. If privacy settings aren’t properly enabled, it can be easy to get information, such as where you live, where you went to school and who your significant others are. All of this can be used to piece together your identity and crack passwords and security questions too. Another way your information can be accessed is through phishing scams and giving out your information accidentally, from phone calls impersonating your bank to clicking on links allowing access to your computer and personal information.

So what can you do to prevent your identity being stolen?

Though the prospect of identity theft is scary, there are plenty of things you can do to make sure you protect your identity online and make it harder for criminals to access. We’ve got some great posts on how to stay safe online and what to watch out for too. Keeping your social media secure is hugely important and we’ve got a detailed blog post with ways to stay safe online when using social media. Making sure your privacy settings are up to date and set to maximum is also really important and needs to be set up across all your accounts and devices. Keeping software up to date and using antivirus are essential steps to preventing hackers from accessing your information to steal your identity too.

Being smart with passwords is also essential, for example using different passwords for different accounts and making sure they’re not saved to your computer or easily guessable. Security questions are another reason that you should limit how much you make public on the internet as if the answer to your security question is easily found online, accounts can be accessed and passwords changed without your knowledge. Your mother’s maiden name is probably easier to find out than your year four teacher at primary school or what Lucy’s middle name is. Try and choose something you wouldn’t have shared online and that isn’t easily guessable or found out.

Make sure you check your bank statements regularly and alert your bank if there is anything suspicious. You can also set up alerts with your email and other accounts to let you know if they have been accessed by an unknown computer. By being aware of this you can change your password and update your security so your information can’t be accessed.

If you’re worried that you might have been the victim of fraud or you think you need a personal investigator to make sure someone you know really is who they say they are, at 1st Call Detectives we are here to help. Use our simple contact form to tell us about your case and one of our expert team will get in touch.

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