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ID Theft
ID theft is when someone steals another person's personal information and using such to obtain goods or credit by deception. ID theft can also be defined as using confidential information to assume another's identity, such as stolen credentials to obtain a false passport. ID theft is a growing concern because identity theft is costing people and businesses millions of pounds every year. More needs to be done to prevent ID fraud, since ID theft can lead to the victims facing problems with the authorisation of credit or of a mortgage.
There are ways to prevent ID thievery, for example, people are advised to never give information, which could be used in ID theft, to anyone until they have checked their credentials as these details can be used for identity fraud. Passports can also be used in ID theft, likewise documents with account numbers on, names or addresses, and could be targeted by ID thieves. Credit cards are also vulnerable to ID theft, so if lost or stolen they should be cancelled to ensure ID theft does not occur.
GB's ID3® technology powers our suite of identity management products and services that provide an electronic ID verification service that is highly efficient and cost-effective, in combating ID theft, compared to traditional manual processes. Our solutions help protect organisations from ID theft and also reduce the inconvenience and anxiety of victims by making it difficult for ID fraudsters to succeed in using stolen identities.
How Individuals can Protect themselves against ID Theft
Id theft is when a person steals another's person's personal information with the intent of using it maliciously to purchase things and open accounts under their name. Once a criminal has this information, the possibilities of what they can do with it is almost endless. What makes this situation even worse is that once id theft has occurred, it is up to the victim to prove that it was not them that caused whatever damage was done, but someone who had stolen their identity. This is very hard to do as the criminal was using someone else's information so they are virtually untraceable. The best measure individuals can take against id theft is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Because the criminal first needs access to this information before they can use it, the main preventative measure to be taken should be to carefully discard of all correspondence that has this information in it. This includes social security numbers, driver's license, credit card numbers, loan account numbers, bank statements, and any other paperwork that has confidential information on it. Rather than simply tossing these papers in the garbage, it's recommended that a cross-shredder is used so that the numbers cannot be pieced back together.
It's also important that individuals at no time hand out their personal information whether it is over the phone to telemarketers or via email and phishing schemes. It's also important for individuals not to carry personal information on them, or to only carry what is absolutely needed. This will prevent them from slipping out of a pocket, wallet, or handbag and having ill-intent hands pick them up and begin to use the individual's name.
In order to protect oneself from id theft, it's also very important that they obtain a copy of their credit report at least once a year and see what activity has been recorded and if it all appears to be accurate. One of the worst things about id theft is that it can go undetected for a long time so unless the person does some personal investigating, it may be too late when they find out that someone has stolen their identity.