Keep safe online!

A friend of mine has recently been a victim of identity theft. It’s a horrible, intrusive crime and it has caused her huge amounts of stress and lots of sleepless nights.

As with a lot of crimes, identity theft and fraud are the sort of thing that you never really think will happen to you. But the fact is these crimes are on the increase. Online theft is being more widely used with fraudsters setting up fake websites to get you to type in your digital banking password, which then gives them access to your accounts. So-called ‘phishing’ emails pretending to be from your bank can also lead to your details being stolen. (source).

I must admit that I hadn’t really thought too much about identity fraud in the past. But my friend’s unfortunate experience made me think about how I could protect my personal information and prevent the same thing from happening to me.

It’s not surprising that criminals are increasingly using online methods to access our personal details. When I started looking into it, I was shocked at the amount of ways people could access my details.

There are plenty of things you can do to protect your personal information. Some of the key things to remember are:

  • Don’t open or respond to emails if you don’t know who they’re from

  • Don’t provide any personal details if you have any suspicions whatsoever about a site

  • Be careful about how much personal information you share on social media

You can find loads of hints and tips online to help you stay safe – Experian have a whole page on their site dedicated to it and, if you take up a CreditExpert membership, you will also receive web monitoring that should help you to stay safe online.

If the worst happens, and you discover that you have been a victim of identity theft or fraud, or suspect that you might have been, contact Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and internet crime reporting centre, straight away. It’s also really important that you contact a credit reference agency, such as Experian, as they can help you make sure that your credit score isn’t affected.

What many people don’t realise is that the credit reference agency can actually add security features to your report to prevent the fraudster from running up more debts in your name. They can also add a Notice of Correction to your report, letting lenders know that you have been a victim of fraud.

It’s also worth registering for the CIFAS Protective Registration Service, which will alert any future lenders to the fraud and prompt them to carry out extra identity checks.

Identity theft and fraud isn’t something to panic about. You don’t need to stop shopping online or using apps or mobile banking. You do, however, need to be aware of the ways you can protect yourself and reduce the risks of you being targeted.

 

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