Home
Your identity is a valuable commodity - you need it to function in everyday life. You need evidence of who you are to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, finance, loans and mortgages, to obtain goods or services, or to claim benefits.
Identity fraudsters pretend to be you, steal your personal details and use them to buy goods and services in your name. Last year there were 65,000 cases of identity fraud. It costs the economy £1.2 billion per year.
In his One Show film on the subject, Dom Littlewood advises us to to be extra careful with our personal info. He said to:
Shred sensitive documents.
Check bank statements for any discrepancies.
Check credit reports once a year.
Identity fraud insurance - is it worth it?
Many banks and credit cards sell some kind of identity fraud insurance. It can cost up to £80 a year. Is it worth it?
Cathy Neal from Which? told Dom that most banks sign up to The Banking Code. Under this code of conduct, they have to refund customers' money if it is taken fraudulently - so people have already got insurance, even though they may not realise it.
She added that a feature of many identity fraud insurances is that they enable a customer to view their credit report, which will reveal whether a criminal has made applications for bank accounts, credit cards or loans in their name. Cathy pointed out that customers can access their credit reports themselves, for a small fee, from each of the three credit reference agencies.
She concluded that identity fraud insurance is not really worth the high cost, even for the peace of mind.
The British Banker's Association agree that customers are covered by the Banking Code, but add: "Identity protection policies may offer additional protection" "but people should read the conditions carefully to see if it is the right product for them."
Click here for the government's identity theft advice website.
What are your experiences of identity theft? Do you have fraud prevention hints and tips that you'd like to share?
Comments
I don't think it's worth paying the extra - what are the chances it will happen to you?
Save yourself up to £80 a year by simply shredding any personal documents instead of throwing them out etc and keeping your details private in general.
Complain about this comment
Bearing in mind anyone can get information about you from the electoral register and Post Code finders - you can't hide your name and address so its pointless shredding them. Use internet banking rather than paper statements and your shredder will be unnecessary. It only takes a bank statement to go astray before it reaches you and you are in trouble
Complain about this comment
Why is Don showing us Anglers Worm Scissors for chopping fishing bait? These aren't for shredding paper - heehee
Darren Carter from Congleton
Complain about this comment
My council collects paper for recycling but will not collect shredded paper for the following reasons:
The reasons Paper Mills do not like large quantities of shredded paper is listed below.
1.Shredded paper causes a lot of paper dust which can easily combust.
2.Shredded paper accumulates in the areas inaccessible under conveyors and around machinery again this can be a fire hazard.
3. When damp or wet, shredded paper will block conveyors and rollers.
4. The fluffy nature of the material gives a false weight to mass reading when entering the pulpers causing an imbalance of chemicals
added to the first stage de-inking process.
The Council does advise residents that they can put shredded paper in their own home compost bins if they have one or alternatively in their normal refuse sacks. The other option is just to shred the confidential part of their paper waste, put this in their refuse then put the non shredded non confidential parts in their recycling.
I think this is ridiculous!
Complain about this comment
Dear One Show
I think the arguments and examples were too narrow. We have had card insurance for a number of years and have benefited from it. Last year we took out identity theft insurance. We were very surprised this last week to have our business identity stolen and used for a fraudulent let. We discovered this from a London Borough Council Tax demand for a property that has nothing to do with us. This would not necessarily show up with a credit reference check and has not yet touched our bank account. We have discovered the hard way that it is wider even than personal identity theft. We are just thankful at the moment that the presenting sum is modest and just over the yearly fee. But who knows what it could of been or where it might lead. We have now included business identity theft with our personal identity cover.
phbasilicon
Complain about this comment
I agree that one of the best ways to dispose such documents is to shred documents... but even better if you have a cat you can recycle the shredings for litter; or another idea I found is to soak & blitz it till very fine back into pulp which would also double as an activity for the kids.
Even tho I do quite a lot online - reducing my need for paper, but still bearing in mind to clear the cookies. Yet the rest of the family recive letters in the post.
Complain about this comment
We are constantly being made aware of protecting our identity. What obligation do our empolyers have to do the same. They hold every part of our information from dob through to previous work history, now in this climate they are asking for us to add passport or driving licience ID to prove we are who we say we are & entitled to work! I have no confidence in my employers security, they have no key procedure, the key to the safe (where our documents are stored) is hanging on a hook in the office for all to access. In this day and age of trust no one I am objecting to the request that I now have to add this addition information. Can anyone give me advise please.
Complain about this comment
YOU ARE NOT COVERED BY THE BANKS FOR ID FRAUD! How many times must this be pointed out for people to realise this? Lets look at this in a logical way and not in the way the BBC explained it, If a fraudster uses your bank account and draws money from THAT account then yes you will be covered by your bank more than likely. Now, if someone uses your identity to take out a new form of credit, say a Vodafone contract phone for example, then what obligation do the bank have to pay back money that is owed to a company that has absolutley sod all to do with them? The same would apply with any other form of credit that was applied for using your details, its not hard to realise the difference between the two is it. Its like Tescos giving you a refund for an item you bought at Asda.....its not going to happen.
Its also well and good keeping a hold over your personal details (which lets be honest, if you dont do any way, your asking for trouble), but what if a fraudster gets details from something that is out of your control, say the electoral role, a bank statement that goes astray or junk mail that arrives at an old address you lived at? You can get a Credit Report to check your status, but what if, a week after checking that report, someone targets you, how would you know about that? ID theft protection policys offer CONTINUOUS cover against, no gaps, no uncovered periods. Unless you check your Credit Report every night, then your not going to know about changes continuously.
Complain about this comment
the information given from the show were correct but were also inncorrect, as above if someone has stolen or fraudulently taken money from your account your bank will refund as it has failed to safeguard you but if someone took out new credit in your name then you would be made liable to pay back the debt.
The bank wouldn't cover you for another bill which has nothing to do with them thats just stupid.
Having a I.D theft insurance is like any other insurance it's up to you whether you have it or not but the fact is I.D theft does affect 1 in 3 people and that is figures from the home office themselves, people can get our details anywhere from council records, electoral roll or even from old bank statements going to old address or even from phising scams which a fraudster can create an exact replicas of websites, the number one phising scam is online banking where the website looks genuine where infact it's false and your giving all your details to Joe Nobody and it's that easy!
also funny to point out that Adrian Chiles is a spokesperson for National Identity Fraud Prevention so really he should know a bit more and could easily give the right facts.
It's upto you to decide don't let some pretend know-it-all tell you what to do! I.D theft is real and it's something the banks don't protect you from
Complain about this comment
The BBC and politicians just do not get it. It is not a matter of whether your identity details have been stolen. It is a matter of what the criminals can do with your details that HAVE been stolen.
Digital data lives forever. All data that has ever been stolen digitally is available somewhere in the hacker community - as databases.
But databases can be relational. If you have two or three databases, you can cross relate them if you have some common field, let's say 'firstname' and 'secondname'. If you are called johnsmith then there is overlap, but for any unusual name there is a fair chance the records in the different databases are about the same person. Add some more fields to cross-search, like address, DOB or mothers maiden name, and very quickly crooks can uniquely identify you, and have a whole mass of info on YOU, drawn from different databases.
It is then very easy for them to convince businesses that they are you, because they have numerous bits of info that check out against standard info sources, such as credit checks etc. So people can easily take out credit or services/goods in your name.
And there is NO WAY you can remove this data from the land of the hackers; it is copied at the click of a button. And if they ever get digital encodings of biometric data about you, the only way you will convince businesses or goverment of who you really are will be to stand and be measured personally, but that still does not say that is what not you that incurred the debt!!!
Before this gets sorted we are going to have some cause celebres, who will be ruined because they cannot convince the authorities that they did not incur the debts taken out in their name.
You may say that a national biometric database will solve this, but when the digital encodings of your biometric data get stolen (as they inevitably will be), you can never get them back in the bottle.
The only answer to all this is human. Forget the digital data trail - it can be faked. We will have to revert to humans guaranteeing the identity of other humans.
Complain about this comment
This is ridiculous. i work for an Identity Protection Insurance company, and work very closely with the banks and customers.
Heres a few facts folks:
1.The Bank, Will NOT refund any money with ID theft, think about it. You bank with one bank, but someone takes out a loan with another bank. Your bank will not want to know. At the end of the day the banks will only look after themself, therefore leaving you to resolve it by yourself, With our insurance we can provide you with a caseworker to help clear your name for you, we will even reimburse you for lost wages as ID theft in serious cases can take up and over 200 hours
2. it is very easy to get your details, Before it use to be that people had to go through your bins to get info, these days all they need is your name, over 90% of the UK's population (over 18) has voted therefore adding them to a publicly viewable register which fraudsters can get their info from. Also fraudsters can get a copy of your birth certificate for less than £10!
What fraudsters then do is transfer that onto blank documentation (Passports/Bills)
and use that as proof of identity!
3. ID theft costs you a minimum of £8000 which is about 100 years worth of ID protection. What would you rather pay? £80 or £8000
Complain about this comment
Hello jsnantucket. Your employer has a legal obligation to comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Act is comprised of 8 fundamental principles with regard to the handling of personal/sensitive data - see attached link: http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/data_protection/the_basics.aspx
From what you say in your blog ("key on a hook accessible by all"), your employer is in breach of the requirement to keep your personal data secure. They may be ignorant of the Act's requirements (a lot of employers and employees are - particularly in smaller businesses), but that's no excuse! I suggest you print off the web page at the above link and (diplomatically) ask whoever is responsible for using/processing this data (HR/Personnel?) why it's not held securely. This may be sufficient action for them to wake up to their responsibilities. You can also make an official complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office - but I think you should have given your employer the opportunity to rectify the situation first so, personally, I would do this as a last resort (i.e. if your employer doesn't take your concern seriously). Hope this helps.
Complain about this comment
The money-grabbing financial institutions are trying to make it our problem that their systems are woefully insecure by charging us for the privilege of protecting our own identity. These schemes are a rip-off and border on protectionism.
Let's look at the irony - we can't guarantee you'll be safe, so we'll charge you a premium to insure against theft or else, by Crikey, the consequences will be dire!
The speil they use is scaremongering and they are profiting by getting us to pay for the very systems that it should be their responsibility to have in place.
Obviously, they're looking for new revenue ruses to compensate for the money (our money) they lost through their further incompetence in managing their risk.
Lastly, from a practical perspective, keeping your card details etc. up to date is virtually impossible - admin upon admin.
Complain about this comment
How can you be legally responsible for nothing that is to do with you?
A few years ago Capital One kept writing to me, refusing credit applications I had not made. I immediately took action to alert my records that I am prone to false applications.
Lottery scams are not only about identity theft. There is a trick where they try to charge you up to £1000 for documents delivered, supposedly referring to a big win.
Complain about this comment
I'm concerned about identity theft, but one thing I have found helps is having my website, David Whitehouse - it has a big picture of me on it and it ranks for my name. So if people want to be sure who I am they can search for me on Google and find out. Although I'm not sure how effective this is.
Other things I do is having a complex password system which changes for every site I use, yet it is still rememberable (most of the time). That way if someone cracks a password to one site, they don't crack them all. Having the same password for every site is just foolish.
Complain about this comment
I have just found a great new product to help stamp out identity theft. It's simply a pre inked stamp that blanks out your personal details from correspondence and junk mail so you can put the papers into your recycling bin. It's available at www.stampoutidentitytheft.co.uk Hope this helps.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS