Identity theft up by a third, according to new figures

Identity theft is on the increase, studies claim. And in the UK it is up by a third, according to new figures.

And if you think that identity thieves are still prioritising vulnerable demographics, such as the elderly, then think again. Fraud prevention agency Cifas has claimed that the 21-30 age range were being increasingly targeted, with a 26% increase in the victims who fall within that age bracket compared to 2014. And the average age of a victim was 46 years old.

Identity theft can occur in a number of different ways, but over the last decade or so criminals have turned to methods more sophisticated than merely physically stealing your personal documents. And this largely means online methods that trick users into giving their personal information to scammers across the Internet.

Typically, Identity theft works by obtaining enough information about a person to create fake documents or accounts in their name or take control of existing accounts. These can be used to take over the identity of the victim. And from there scammers could purchase items in the victim’s name, even withdraw money from their banking accounts. But the possibilities don’t end there.

Identity thieves can even use your identity to fool your friends and family into handing over personal information as well.

Identity theft is an ever-present threat for Internet users, but you can do many things to make it as hard as possible for criminals to steal your identity, and to minimise the damage identity scammers can inflict upon you.

So this is a good chance to go through a few brief tips on avoiding identity theft –

Limit your information on social networks and sort out your privacy.

Given that nuggets of personal information about you are an identity thief’s treasure, if it no surprise that such scammers have turned to social networking websites by their thousands. Social networks are the places where personal information reside, and many users don’t have good privacy settings.

So it is important to have the correct privacy settings applied to your social networking accounts so strangers can’t glean information about you from them. (click here for our Facebook’s privacy setting guide) Also try and limit the information you put onto these websites in the first place, even if the only people that can see them are your friends. Your friends probably know where you live, your phone number and your birthday.

And if a friend has their account compromised by a scammer, you don’t want that scammer gaining information about you as well.

Understand how phishing works

Phishing scams are a popular method used to extract personal information from unwary victims. Internet phishing scams commonly occur through email or social media, and involve a scammer pretending to be someone they are not in order to fool you into handing over information. Read our article on Facebook phishing scams to get a better idea how they work and thus how to avoid them.

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Keep your computer malware free

Malware threats such as keylogging software are a popular tool employed by identity thieves to record personal information you type and send it straight to the scammer, which can lead to compromised accounts.

Keep your computer malware free and have up-to-date malware protection installed at all times.

Avoid public Wi-Fi for sensitive tasks

Public Wi-Fi or public computers are not the place to perform sensitive tasks such as online banking, logging into PayPal, using social networking accounts, online shopping or creating new Internet accounts. Public Wi-Fi spots can be used to eavesdrop on the information transmitted between your computer and the Internet.

Don’t use the same passwords

If one of your online accounts gets compromise because a criminal gains your password, you don’t want them to gain access to your other online accounts too. Studies show that an alarmingly large number of people use the same password for all (or most) of their online accounts, which means if a criminal manages to get the password for one, they already have the password for others too.

Also, use strong passwords that involve a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and even symbols, and are at least 8 characters long.

Think of any other useful tips? Let us know below.

[Source: BBC: Number of identity theft victims ‘rises by a third’]

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