Impersonation: the Most Feared Type of Fraud

Are you guilty of writing down your passwords or sharing personal details on social media sites? Find out how to protect your personal data and avoid identity fraud. 
The type of fraud that people fear the most is the use of their personal details to commit identity fraud, according to a March 2013 poll by CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service.
When asked ‘what kind of fraud are you most frightened of falling victim to?’ respondents were given a choice of the three responses below.  From over 300 individual responses, a clear ‘most feared fraud’ was identified.

• 69% - Having your personal details used to impersonate you
• 21% - Having someone take money from an existing account
• 10% - Being duped into using your bank account frequently

Impersonation could involve a fraudster using an individual’s identity details to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards or loans, order goods in their name, take out mobile phone contracts or even to obtain genuine documents, such as passports and driving licences, in their name.

In many cases, people don’t even know they’ve been victim to identity fraud until they receive bills or invoices for things they haven’t ordered, or when they receive letters from debt collectors for debts they didn’t incur.

Not only is there the immediate financial impact to deal with, this kind of fraud can be time consuming and stressful to sort out. In March this year at the time of the poll results being released, CIFAS’ Communications Manager, Richard Hurley, commented that victims of impersonation often feel violated as a result of their personal details being stolen, and the poll results reflected this.

In an age where we are online most days, we are revealing more information about our personal lives than ever before. Through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, many people openly share private information such as their full names, birthdays and email addresses. It’s important to be aware that fraudsters can use these details to build a picture of an individual’s identity.

So what can you do?

To help to protect  you from the risk  of identity fraud, take preventative steps by choosing strong passwords, don’t write them down, limit the personal details you publish on social networking sites, password protect smartphones and digital devices, and always shred or destroy documents that contain personal information before throwing them away.

Another option is to sign up to an identity theft protection service to regularly monitor your credit profile. PrivacyGuard membership provides you with a range of services that can help you catch the early signs of identity fraud. You’ll have constant online access to your credit report and you’ll also receive alerts via SMS or email to let you know about any significant changes to your credit profile.