Identity Theft

Identity theft refers to the preparatory stage of acquiring and collecting someone else’s personal information for criminal purposes. As of January 8, 2010, Senate Bill S-4 became law, making it illegal to possess another person’s identity information for criminal purposes.

• Identity theft techniques can range from unsophisticated, such as dumpster diving and mail theft, to more elaborate schemes.
• Technology, mainly the Internet, facilitates more elaborate schemes, such as skimming, phishing, and hacking as criminals gather profiles of potential victims. Computer spywares and viruses, designed to help thieves acquire personal information, are an emerging trend.

Identity Fraud

Identity fraud is the actual deceptive use of the identity information of another person (living or dead) in connection with various frauds (including for example personating another person and the misuse of debit card or credit card data).

Criminals can use your stolen or reproduced personal or financial information to:

• access your computer
• access your email accounts
• access your bank accounts
• open new bank accounts
• transfer bank balances
• apply for loans, credit cards and other goods and services
• make purchases
• hide their criminal activities
• obtain passports or receive government benefits

How to Protect Yourself

• Identity theft can occur over the Internet or telephone, or via fax or regular mail. Therefore, be particularly wary of unsolicited e-mails, telephone calls or mail attempting to extract personal or financial information from you;
• Ask yourself if you really need all of the identity documents you carry in your wallet or purse. Remove any you don’t need and keep them in a secure place instead;
• Periodically check your credit reports, bank and credit card statements and report any irregularities promptly to the relevant financial institution and to the credit bureau;
• During transactions, it’s safer to swipe your cards yourself than it is to allow a cashier to do it for you. If you must hand over your card, never lose sight of it;
• Always shield your personal identification number when using an ATM or a PIN pad;
• Memorize all personal identification numbers for payment cards and telephone calling cards. Never write them on the cards;
• Familiarize yourself with billing cycles for your credit and debit cards;
• Trash bins are a goldmine for identity thieves. Make sure you shred personal and financial documents before putting them in the garbage and;
• When you change your address, make sure you notify the post office and all relevant financial institutions (your bank and credit card companies).