ID Fraud Prevention Week 2008 – update - Identity and Passport Service

News article

ID Fraud Prevention Week: 6th to 12th October

Monday 6th October 2008

National Fraud Prevention Week 2008 This week is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week. Identity fraud costs the UK economy over £1bn a year.

Your personal details, such as your date of birth, address, mother's maiden name and passwords are all valuable commodities to fraudsters. Details like this can provide enough information to open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, loans and much more in your name.

So if your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards, or a mortgage, until the matter is sorted out.

But the good news is that there is also plenty you can do to protect yourself:

be extra careful if you live in a property where other people could have access to your mail.
if you move house, tell your bank, card issuer and all other organisations that you deal with immediately. Ask the Royal Mail to redirect any mail from your old address.
don't use the same password for more than one account and never use banking passwords for any other websites. You can find lots more about staying safe online at: www.getsafeonline.org
when giving your card number or personal information over the phone, the Internet or in a shop, make sure other people can’t hear or see your details.
don’t just throw away old bills, receipts, credit or debit card slips and bank statements. Shred them!

You can find out if you’re at risk of identity theft at: www.identitytheft.org.uk

There’s also advice on how to stop identity fraud at: www.stop-idfraud.co.uk

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