Tips From The Top Brass: Protect Yourself Against Identity Fraud

When you speak of identity fraud, you’d normally think of a stolen credit card. Whoever gets to steal this plastic gets to pillage goods, services and even cash under the victim’s name. The end result is none other than an awful lot of debt.

However, identity theft involves a wider scope of crime. Did you know that theives can actually steal your plastics to perpetrate others? They are even becoming more advanced today by forming organised crimes. They also contrive far more elaborate scams that blindside consumers.

If you’re not careful enough, they will manipulate your personal financial information to perform a variety of fraud and steal money from you. For instance, they may use your personal information to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards and rack up large debt. In turn, you may rack up bad credit without your knowledge.

It used to be that tucking your credit cards safely in your pocket is a good-enough safety measure. But clearly, that won’t work as good now. What you need are far more cautious measures in order to protect yourself from identity fraud. Here are some top tips from the top brass. These should cover all blindsides.

For Peter Kell, deputy chairman of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, here are two things you can do; (1) be careful on what you post on social networking sites, (2) keep in mind that legitimate financial institutions will never ever send an email asking you to provide personal banking detail or ask you to follow a link.

On the other hand, here are what Delia Rickard, Australian Securities and Investments Commission senior executive leader for financial literacy, has to say: (1) Do not do online banking using public computers, (2) never fail to log out of online banking websites as soon you’re done, (3) make your passwords hackproof by making it difficult to guess, (4) secure your letterbox with a lock and (5) shred all personal documents before tossing them away.

Thieves are so cunning and desperate nowadays to even rummage through your trash just to get useful information. So if you have copies of last year’s credit history you want to toss out, make them undecipherable first. Or better yet, just file them neatly for future references. You’ll never know when you might need them again.

Should you discover your identity has been compromised, report it to the right agencies right away. Inform your bank, the authorities and your credit reporting agency. This way, they can take immediate action in your defense.