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Identity Theft & Phishing - Don't be a Victim
an ORANGE DOOR CONSUMER HELP page |
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Identity Theft - Definition This is when a fraudster steals your identity details - name, address, date of birth phone number etc. to open new accounts with a financial organisations to borrow money in your name. Suddenly you will be presented with a mountain of debt run up in your name by the fraudster when repayments become due. Meanwhile of course the identity thief has disappeared along with the cash leaving you to sort the the repayment demands.
Phishing Fraud - Definition Also known as "Facility takeover theft" is similar to Identity Theft except in this case the thief takes over an existing account and strips it without the owners knowledge.
How Phishing Fraud and Identity Theft criminals operate
+ They obtain your details and documents such as utility bills from from paperwork you throw in your dustbin and use it to start a new financial account for themselves, but in your name.
+ They send out random emails purporting to come from a genuine financial organisation and people taking the phishing bait are redirected to a fake web site that looks exactly like the genuine organisation where where they are asked to reconfirm personal details like account numbers and passwords.
+They can infiltrate computers and without the owners knowledge install software that can feed back to criminals all the personal and private details that are stored on your computer, such as Bank details, passwords, credit card details etc.
Precautions to take to foil Identity theft and fraud To avoid being a victim take the following precautions -
+ Shred all discarded paper work that carry any personal details before disposing in the dustbin. For instance Amazon sell them from about £18 - Money well spent!
+ Don't trust any unsolicited emails from anyone you don't know and never, never, never open any attachments or click on any links. Don't forget that no reputable financial organisation will EVER ask you to confirm by telephone or email your personal financial details such as account numbers or passwords.
+You would not leave your home without shutting windows and locking doors so take the same care with your computer to stop thieves entering. Always keep your virus and firewall programmes switched on and up to date.
+ Never click on pop-ups, better to have your browser pop-up blocker constantly switched on.
+ When shopping on line always check for the padlock sign in the bar at the bottom of your browser and use sites that begin https:// as opposed to http:// this shows that your personal details are being encrypted so that they cannot be intercepted by third parties.Keep a record of your online shopping and check figures against your card statements on a monthly basis.
+ It is worth opening up a free email address from any of the search engines especially for online shopping, this way you file all your online shopping correspondence in one place and you know where the spam is coming from.
+ Protect your broadband connection with a password so nobody in the vicinity can intercept or use it.
+ Check your credit card and bank statements for any expenditure that looks suspicious. This way you can nip any fraud in the bud before it gets out of hand.
+ You can check your credit record easily for as little as £2 by obtaining a copy of your credit file from Equifax, Experian or Callcredit. Or you can pay a monthly fee of around £7 for unlimited access and automatic alerts of any suspicious changes.
+ You can obtain protective registration from Cifas so that anyone applying for credit in your name will be double-checked by extra identity proof requests.
If you become an innocent party Victim in the end you probably will finish up not very much out of pocket BUT it could take you up to 300 hours of your precious time to reinstate your identity and sort matters out. Points to note -
+ Contact your Bank or financial organisation immediately by phone and in writing and keep meticulous records of all correspondence and phone conversations.(dates, times, name of person contacted, etc.)
+ You may need legal help start with getting free advice from the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau).
+ Under the Banking Code you should not suffer any financial loss if you are the innocent party and have not done anything silly like giving your pin number to a friend or relation. But it will take time to recover your money.
+ It is the grief, aggravation and the sheer amount of time you will waste that is the real bugbear. So better take precautions rather than get caught.
+ You should also see our Credit Card Scams page.
SORRY but at the moment we do not have the staff to supply advice on individual problems
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