Identity Theft Check

Unless we take some basic precautions, it is relatively easy for others to find personal information about us that may then be used for identity crimes. In fact these details need not be stolen from us per se, and it is actually quite hard to keep personal information from someone who is determined to find them and has a modicum of know-how. The question is whether we can prevent ‘vital’ personal information from falling into the wrong hands.

For most identity crimes the criminal will need more than just your full name, email address or car number-plate. Other, less publically available documents and information will be needed in order to commence some sort of scam.

The sorts of information theft that we can’t really protect ourselves from as individuals include compromised internet search engines, or even worse, government registers and public records services or indeed any organizations that store our personal information for a legitimate reason.

It takes highly skilled and focussed criminals to access these resources and their defence is down to the companies and government bodies that administer them. There is nothing we can do as individuals to improve their protection.

Next time we’ll look at some specific areas where we CAN improve the protection of our personal information and what risks we face in our day to day lives.