Avoiding ID theft
Identity theft is on the increase. It's the fastest growing type of fraud in the marketplace and the number one consumer complaint in North America.
ID theft happens when someone uses someone else's identification documents or other identifiers in order to impersonate that person for whatever reason including financial fraud and criminal activities.
Tips
- Buy and use a shredder.
- Cut up expired or unused credit cards.
- Carry only the ID you will need that day.
- Don't fill in forms for contests.
- Lock your household mailbox.
- Don't leave personal information lying around.
- Don't give personal information unless you know for sure who they are.
- Don't put more than your name and address on personal cheques.
- Destroy old vehicle registration certificates and return expired or unused license plates.
- Protect your computer with a password that is a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
- Use a firewall computer program especially if you use a high-speed internet connection.
- Install virus protection software.
- Be careful when opening Email from strangers.
- Don't send personal or confidential information over email.
- Make sure deleted information is really gone before disposing of old computers.
- Once a year get a copy of your credit report from two major credit bureaus.
- Make a note of credit card or bank statements that don't arrive as usual. A thief may have changed the address.
- Keep credit card, debit and ABM receipts.
- Be wary of mail, telephone or internet promotions asking for your information.
- Memorize passwords.
- Enter your PIN number or password so no one can see.
