This has become a growing problem in recent years, and the worrying thing is the ease with which it is possible. Criminals steal the indentity of a living, or dead, person by obtaining personal documents from the bin (waste and/or recylcing), mail or when breaking into a property, then applying for bank accounts, passports, driving licence etc in that persons' name.
Sometimes the first victim knows about it is when they notice credit card transactions on their card that they haven't made or start to get demands for payment overdrawn accounts, traffic offences and maybe some more serious crimes.
It can be very difficult and time consuming to prove innocence. To minimise your risk, always shred documents
with personal information on them, such as bank
bank statements, utility bill, even junk mail with your
address on and cut up old credit/debit cards. Never
give you personal details to anyone you don't know who ask for them, for example telesales or marketing companies. Lock away your private documents in your home and ensure your private information
remains private.
You may want to register with the to minimise the amount of junk mail and phone calls you receive.
Identity Theft
