Identity Theft - Protect Yourself
Identity theft is a major issue in the UK, and with good reason. It has been estimated that it can take up to sixty hours of work to recover a stolen identity, and in the worst cases, cost up to £8000 to put right. Cabinet Office figure estimate that identity fraud cost the UK economy £1.3 billion in 2003, to which plastic card identity card fraud contributed £20.6 million. Interestingly, whilst identity theft is illegal in the US, there is currently no such crime under UK law.
Don’t panic!
Credit card holders can take simple precautions that ensure their identity and cards are as safe as possible.
Look after your cards
Card holders should always know where their cards are. London police advise shoppers to carry one card only. Never let a card out of your sight in a restaurant or shop. When going abroad, take only one card, preferably one that does not charge for withdrawing money abroad (Nationwide are the most popular for no charges on foreign transactions). Keep the others safely at home.
PIN numbers
Every chip and PIN card comes with a PIN number, sent under separate cover. Memorise this number immediately, and destroy the original letter. PIN numbers should never be kept together with cards. All credit cards offer the facility for holders to go to an ATM and change the issued PIN to something more memorable.
Who is watching you?
In most UK shops, the PIN terminal has little shielding, so anyone can see the code being entered. If possible, take the terminal off its stand and bring it close to the body, and shield the screen when entering the PIN. Use as many fingers as possible to enter the code as fast as possible. Potential thieves will find it harder to follow rapid multi-finger movements than a slow prod with an index finger. The same applies when withdrawing money from an ATM.
Stolen cards
If cards are lost or stolen, report their theft immediately and cancel the cards. Companies such as Sentinel offer a card registration scheme, where one call cancels all your cards instantly.
Phishing
Fraudsters are constantly trying to extract credit card details from unsuspecting card holders by sending emails which appear to come from reputable banks or organisations. The email will claim to be from the Support or Service department, and often will have some request for information in the subject line.
The first warning bell should ring when more than one email appears with a similar title, or it is from a bank that the card holder does not bank with. DO NOT OPEN THESE EMAILS. Simply delete them, unread.
If accidentally opened, these emails will read “Dear BlahBank account holder” or similar. They will rarely address the account holder by name. They often are written in poor English, or contain badly reproduced graphics. All will include a link to click on to “update your account information” or similar. DO NOT CLICK ON THIS.The link may claim to take the browser to the bank web site, but in fact it links to a bogus web site. Delete the email immediately.
Credit card companies NEVER request full passwords, PIN codes or complete account information via email or phone.
For card holders who administer their card online or pay via online banking, any messages pertaining to their account will be accessible via the official bank or credit card web site. Type in the web address into the browser manually and check that the site is secure. (A padlock symbol should appear, and the letters “https:” appear at the start of the URL.) Users should log in using their internet access codes and/or passwords, and check for messages on the system.
Reporting Phising Emails
All online banks and payment sites (such as Paypal or eBay) have processes for reporting phising emails. Do report them; it will help the sites prevent future fraud.
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