Identity

Identity Theft & Identity Fraud

Very often when talking about having your identity stolen the terms identity theft and identity fraud are not differentiated against, but there is a distinct difference. This site not only explores the differences in the two but also allows you to see the different ways in which your identity could be stolen. By protecting yourself in simple steps it will make it harder for a fraudster to obtain any personal or financial information which could be the key to your identity.

There are numerous ways in which you could have your identity stolen and as technology develops so does the sophistication of these fraudsters.

1. Theft of wallet or purse - The average purse or wallet contains bank cards, credit cards and valuable identity documents including driving licences and membership cards. These can be easily used to access your existing accounts or more importantly your driving license could be used to impersonate your identity.
2. Unsolicited contact - if you receive a telephone call from the bank or similar organisation asking to update records and confirm passwords, treat with caution. You can always take the name of the person calling and call their switchboard to ensure the call is genuine. With passwords and personal information such as your mums maiden name an identity fraudster could have unlimited access to your bank accounts.
3. Forwarding Mail - by completing the 'change of address' form a fraudster could have all your mail delivered right to their doorstep. Your mail provides a wealth of information about you. Your bank statements, utility bills, store cards, memberships, even personal letters from family could reveal valuable details about your identity.
4. Over the Internet - Sharing personal information to gain access to websites can lead to fraudsters gaining details about you which could help them obtain credit in your name. The internet is a place where identity fraudsters thrive.
    
5. Phishing - Not many people are familiar with this term but it describes identity theft via email.  The fraudsters will send an email claming to be the bank or other organisations asking for urgent information. The website looks genuine but has been created by the fraudster to obtain the information they need about you to get access to your accounts. Websites that are created to look similar to a genuine site are also known as mirror sites.
6. Bin Raiding - Fraudsters see no problem routing through your rubbish bin if it can provide them with the personal information they need. Be careful when throwing away any bank or credit card statements, approved credit card offers, telephone bills and even personal letters as they could hold the key to your identity.
7. Card Skimming - Be cautious when you hand over your card to the shop assistant or waiter to not to let them take the card out of your sight. 'Skimming' is when your card information is copied when you make a purchase.
8. Corporate identity theft - Companies are at as much risk as the individual. By accessing publicly available company records fraudsters can trade off the back of the company name purchasing items on credit from suppliers.  Fraudsters may also be able to access the company's bank account details and signatures held in the public records and attempt to gain access to them. Another possibility especially with businesses is if you use the 'remember my password' when logging into a program or database, although it saves you time, a fraudster can have easy access to all documents that have passwords to stop unwanted people gaining access.
9. Impersonating the deceased - By noting the name, date of birth and addresses of deceased people from announcements and obituaries fraudsters can steal the identities of the deceased. Alarmingly CIFAS - The UK's Fraud Prevention Service, estimates there were over 80,000 incidences of deceased identity fraud in 2005.

This example reveals how even multi million pound companies have their identity stolen.

The largest online auction in the world, eBay, has become another victim from identity fraudsters setting up mirror sites. The fraudsters set up the website and then sent emails to customers requesting that they submit their financial details and passwords to ebayupdates.com using the pretense that the staff at eBay were experiencing technical difficulties with billing information. Potentially 55 million worldwide eBay customers could have been affected. Fortunately the site was quickly detected and Internet users were warned by the US Internet watchdog SANNS. eBay later confirmed that it never requested customers to disclose their passwords.

Identity theft is how they steal your details - Identity Fraud is what they do with your details thereafter!

Surprisingly the use of a false identity or the adoption of another person's identity is not a criminal offence in the UK unless it can be proved that it was going to be used to commit a criminal act or fraud, or it can be proved a criminal act took place as a consequence.

Fraud costs the UK economy billions of pounds each year and is continuing to rise at an outstanding pace. We are all victims of fraud – because of fraud we pay higher prices in shops, higher interest rates on mortgages and higher premiums on insurance.

For the victims of identity fraud, the effects are devastating. It takes the average victim 18 months to realise they have been targeted by an identity thief. Often, the victim only discovers the fraud when they are denied credit, a mortgage or have their accounts plundered. It will then take the average victim a further 400 hours to repair the damage.

The types of Identity Fraud

Application Fraud, where the fraudster applying for a credit card or setting up a bank account in the name of a different person using personal and financial information stolen from the victim.

Account Takeover, where the identity fraudster will collate information about an individual then later inform the individual's bank of a change of address.  The fraudster will then call the bank and order a new credit or debit card to be sent through to the new address. This gives the fraudster access to your exsisting bank account.

Impersonation Fraud, where the fraudster assumes the person's identity. The fraudster will obtain an individual's birth certificate (which is legal!) and from there apply for other identification documents based on the birth certificate. Identification documents could include driving license passport and national insurance number and once these are obtained a range of crimes could be committed.

In the case of a stolen business identity the fraudster may simply use invoices or company stationary to obtain goods or services on credit or may create an entirely false trading history. Another possibility could be for the fraudster to set up a copycat website or similar website in order to get individuals to submit money or credit card details.

There are many documents which are extremely valuable to an identity fraudster. The obvious are driving license, passport, birth certificate, bank statements, utility bills and phone bills.  But, did you know that a boarding stub which most people chuck away after their flight contains enough information to begin searching into your identity. On it is your name seat number and a lot of information that using the internet can give you further access to your personal details such as your passport number, date of birth and home address! Everything a fraudster needs to steal your identity. To read the article on 'What could a boarding pass tell an identity fraudster about you?' click here