To protect Your Identity, there is loads
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The Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee has issued comprehensive guidelines on the definition of Identity Fraud, how to prevent being a victim and what assistance is available if it happens to you.
Criminals commit identity theft by stealing your personal information. This is often done by taking documents from your rubbish or by making contact with you and pretending to be from a legitimate organisation. Identity theft can result in fraud affecting your personal financial circumstances, as well as costing government and financial services millions of pounds a year. If your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out.
The following tips will help you protect your identity and prevent criminals from committing fraud in your name:
Your Identity and personal information are valuable assets. Keep them Secure.
Regularly obtain a copy of your personal credit file from one of the three credit reference agencies to see which financial organizations' have accessed your details. It is particularly helpful to check your personal credit file 2-3 months after you have moved house. Be extra careful if you live in a property where other people could have access to your mail. In some cases a bank or credit card company could arrange for you to collect valuable items such as new plastic cards or cheque books from a local branch.
If you suspect your mail is being stolen, contact the Royal Mail Customer Enquiry Line: 08457 740 740. Check whether a mail redirection order has been made in your name without your knowledge. If you move house, tell your bank, card issuer and all other organizations' that you deal with immediately. Ask the Royal Mail to redirect any mail from your old address to your new one for at least a year. Consider using the Mailing Preference Service to limit the amount of unwanted mail you receive.
If your plastic cards are lost or stolen, cancel them immediately. Keep a note of the emergency numbers you should call. Further details can be found at the Card Watch Website
When giving your card details or personal information over the phone, Internet or in a shop, make sure other people cannot hear or see your personal information.
Never carry documents or plastic cards unnecessarily. When not in use keep them in a safe place.
Keep your personal documents in a safe place, preferably in a lockable drawer or cabinet at home. Consider storing valuable financial documents such as share certificates with your bank.
If your passport or driving licence has been lost or stolen contact the issuing organisation immediately.
Don't throw away entire bills, receipts, credit or debit card slips, bank statements or even unwanted post in your name.
Destroy unwanted documents, preferably by using a shredder.
Check statements as soon as they arrive. If any unfamiliar transactions are listed, contact the company concerned immediately.
Never give personal or account details to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. Be suspicious even if they claim to be from your bank or the police. Ask for their phone number, check it is genuine and, if so, call them back. Be aware that a bank will never ask for your PIN or for a whole security number or password. Keep them secure.
Don't use the same password for more than one account and never use banking passwords for any other websites. Using different passwords increases security and makes it less likely that someone could access any other accounts.
Keep your passwords safe and never record or store them in a manner which leaves them open to theft, such as in your purse or wallet.
If you receive a suspicious e-mail purporting to be from a bona fide institution which requests personal details, tell us about it.
In addition, the website www.getsafeonline.org gives advice on how to stay safe online when shopping, banking or doing business over the internet, and how to protect your computer and the personal information it contains. This includes advice about how to dispose of unwanted computers. This website has been developed by the Government, police and industry.
Companies and their directors can also fall victim to identity fraud. Criminals can seek to commit corporate identity fraud in a variety of different ways, including by fraudulently changing a company’s registered details at Companies House. Companies House has a 3 point plan to help companies protect against corporate identity fraud and safeguard the personal information of their directors. This involves filing information online (Web Filing), signing up to submitting all papers online (PROOF), and subscribing to an alert system that notifies companies when changes to their details are made (Monitor). More information about these services and combating corporate identity fraud can be found at www.companieshouse.gov.uk
Criminals sometimes use the identities of deceased persons to commit fraud, which can be very distressing for those close to the deceased. One way of reducing the chances of this happening is to register with services that remove the deceased’s details from mailing lists.
The following websites offer deceased person mail preference services and provide further information on this issue:
The Bereavement Register - www.the-bereavement-register.org.uk
Deceased Preference Service - www.deceasedpreferenceservice.co.uk
Mailing Preference Service - www.mpsonline.org.uk
The Following Companies offer
Insurance Packages to help you
to protect yourself against identity
fraud.
HBOS offers Identitycare insurance for £6.95 a month. It includes a credit report, credit monitoring service, up to £25,000 of legal expenses should you become an identity theft victim and need help to recover your identity, up to £1,000 emergency money if you are unable to access your bank accounts or credit cards, up to £25,000 for fraud liability if fraudsters apply for, and obtain credit cards, debit cards, charge cards or new bank accounts in your name and advice and assistance in correcting your credit file should someone steal your identity.
Sainsbury’s Bank offers Privacy Guard for £6.99 a month. Customers will receive regular credit reports and credit scores from one of the leading credit report agencies, ongoing monitoring of their credit status and up to £10,000 reimbursement if their identity is stolen. If you do fall victim to identity fraud, the policy will provide you with access to resolution services via PrivacyGuards experienced Victims of Fraud team.
CPP - or Card Protection Plan offers a Complete Protection policy for £4.99 a month or £59.99 a year. The policy offers £50,000 of cover in the event that you become a victim of identity theft, as well as access to your own identity theft expert, who will work with you to resolve the problem. In order to prevent this happening, CPP send you credit alerts that let you know of any significant changes to your credit status or if others have attempted to take out credit in your name. Even if you haven't suffered any loss or attempted theft, the policy offers you unlimited online access to your credit report. If you have lost any identity documents and fear that you may become a victim, CPP will register your details with the UK's fraud protection service, CIFAS, to make it harder for others to obtain credit in your name
Similar to CPP’s Complete Protection, BT Identity Protection which costs £3.75 per month by direct debit, covers you for up to £50,000 for the expenses of restoring your identity. In addition, if someone steals your identity, you’ll receive your own personal caseworker who’ll guide you through the steps of resolving the problem, such as writing letters for you to send to relevant companies. It also offers credit monitoring, unlimited online access to your credit report, CIFAS protective registration, valuable document registration and £200 to cover lost or stolen documents.
Some banks that offer packaged bank accounts offer identity theft protection as an account benefit, so it’s worth checking if you already have insurance before you buy cover. Lloyds TSB, Barclaycard and others all include some kind of identity theft insurance on some of their fee-paying accounts.
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