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The first steps to prevent identity theft require you to adopt a suspicious attitude in relation to divulging your personal data. If you are asked to provide personal details, consider whether the request is strictly necessary in the circumstances. Never tell anyone your passwords for any financial transactions. This secrecy should extend to your close family members.

Keep personal documents in a safe place, preferably under lock and key. If you must keep a written note of your PIN number, don’t keep the note with your card; if you keep your ATM card in a wallet, don’t put the note in the wallet, or even in the same pocket as the wallet.

The next steps to prevent identity theft are alertness and caution during all financial transactions. When you pay for goods with your credit card, don’t allow the card to be taken out of your sight. When you visit the ATM to withdraw cash, check that the machine looks the same as usual, if anything looks remotely altered, go to another machine; a skimming device might have been attached by a thief. Look around to check if anyone seems to be standing a bit too close, in case they are trying to see your PIN number as you type it in.

Always shred or burn any old documents which bear even the tiniest amount of personal data, never throw them away whole. Don’t underestimate the importance of any document; a utility bill can be used as proof of residence by an identity fraudster.

The next step to prevent identity theft is to be wary when using your credit card. If you are paying for goods with your credit card, make sure you don’t allow the card to be taken out of your sight. The person dealing with the payment might electronically skim your card, or write down the card number and security number, that’s all a thief needs to make purchases with your card online.

Never give out personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone. Never mind if they sound 100% genuine, identity thieves know exactly how to approach their victims and can sound totally plausible.

If you receive an email asking you to click a special link to update your details, don’t comply; send it straight to the trash folder even if you believe you know the sender. Emails like this are “phishing” emails, any details you type in will be recorded by logging equipment for a thief to download.

Be careful with passwords. Never tell anyone else your passwords. Don’t use the same password for all purposes, have a separate one for everything. Don’t use obvious words as passwords; use a mixture of letters and numbers where possible. Don’t use your date of birth or consecutive numbers as a PIN number.

The first steps you need to take to prevent identity theft are easy to implement; it is simply a matter of cultivating good habits in relation to protecting your personal privacy. The next step is to learn more about protecting your personal privacy. Joining a fraud protection monitoring scheme should also be seriously considered.

1. Identity theft is a worldwide problem, but it is a fact that the crime is more prevalent in affluent societies.
2. Moving out of the city will not protect you from the identity thieves; you are vulnerable to identity theft whether you live in a big city or a small town.
3. Living in a close-knit community where you know the citizens by their first names does not make you safe from identity fraud; an identity thief with a computer has a long reach.
4. It is a fact that half of all identity theft is carried out by someone the victim knows.
5. The Federal Trade Commission estimated that in about 9 percent (one in every eleven) of identity theft cases, the culprit was a family member.
6. Nearly half of all identity theft victims discover their identity has been stolen within three months of the theft.
7. About 15 percent of identity fraud victims do not discover the crime has been committed for four years or even longer.
8. A stolen Social Security Number is sold and used (mostly by illegal immigrants) to gain employment an average of 30 times.
9. Many stolen American Social Security Numbers belong to children. These SSN’s can be used for years because the minor does not use the Social Security Number. The theft often comes to light only when the minor applies for a student loan or first job.

How is identity theft accomplished?

The answer to this question is simply that the way identity theft is accomplished is that an identity fraudster gets hold of some of your personal details and uses them to obtain an (usually financial) advantage.

Sometimes the personal details are stolen from online sources; the stolen items will be things such as passwords to bank accounts, Paypal login etc. On other occasions the identity thieves manage to get hold of personal documents which they use as evidence of identity.

Identity theft is the fastest spreading crime in history; committing the crime of identity theft is relatively easy and risk free, detection is difficult and victims often have a hard job convincing the authorities that they have not committed any crime, but have been the victims of identity fraud.

Think about how easy it has been for you to obtain credit legitimately. A bank account number and a utility bill is often all that is required. To prevent identity fraud being accomplished, you need to be aware of how the fraudsters obtain your personal information. The following three methods of getting information to accomplish identity theft are very common, and frighteningly simple.

Intercepting mail

If you move house, make sure you notify every company that might write to you of your change of address. The only way to be completely safe is to have your mail redirected by the Post Office for at least six months after you move (and preferably for a full year). Even junk mail can be used in identity fraud, so you need to have all mail redirected, not just the important stuff.

Phishing emails

Phishing emails are a very effective way for identity thieves to obtain login details and passwords. Many people are taken in by phishing emails because they often look totally genuine. The way phishing works is that an email purporting to be from your bank, or some such company, asks you to click on the link in the email and log into your account to check or update your personal information. If you click the link it takes you to a phony website where everything you type will be logged and downloaded by the fraudsters.

Theft of documents

Never leave private documents where they can fall into somebody else’s hands. No personal documents should ever be left in a vehicle. To be safe, all personal papers should be kept under lock and key, or at the very least kept out of sight. When you wish to dispose of a document, it should always be shredded or burnt; simply tearing it up will not prevent it being used by thieves to accomplish theft of your identity.