Your wallet

Your wallet holds a lot of information about you.

This information can be misused.

Do you need the information in your wallet on a daily basis, or do you only need it occasionally?

Tips:

Identity documents such as your passport and driver’s licence are especially attractive for identity thieves. This is because an identity thief can either try to use these as identification, or as a source to find out more information about you.

• Always make sure you know where your identity documents are stored. You might want to invest in a safe or place them in a locked cabinet. Documents you rarely use can be placed in a safety deposit box.
• Regularly remove cards and other documents you don’t need from your wallet.
• If an identity document is stolen or lost, notify the police and other appropriate authorities.
• Keep contact numbers for your bank and other agencies where you can find them, in case you need to cancel a debit or credit card.

Your mailbox

A lot of personal information is sent by mail including certificates, debit and credit cards, passports, forms and other documents.

This isn’t usually something you can avoid. However, you can do a lot to reduce the risks that information sent by mail can be misused.

Tips:

• Put a lock on your mailbox.
• Ask a neighbour to collect your mail if you are on holiday, or ask the post office to stop your mail while you are away. Then the mail won’t accumulate in your mailbox.
• Use electronic invoices sent to a secure online address if you can. Then you get fewer invoices or other letters through the mail that identity thieves could use.
• Think about what you are expecting through the mail. If you suspect something is missing or your mail has gone astray, contact the post office straight away.
• Make sure you organise for your mail to be redirected when you move house and tell your contacts what your new address is. This will reduce the chance of your mail going astray.

Your rubbish bin

Believe it or not, thieves do go through rubbish bins.

Documents that are of no interest to you can be a goldmine of information for a criminal. This is because those documents can include information that an identity thief can use to impersonate you. E.g. the document may tell the thief about your contacts – he or she can then get in touch with them and pretend to be you.

Businesses can be easily fooled if an identity thief can provide information only you should know about. The documents could also include details the identity thief needs to build a profile about you.

Tips:

• Tear up or shred all documents that contain information about you before you throw them away. You can get cheap shredding machines these days. For example, always destroy:
• Credit or debit card bills
• Credit information
• Personal applications
• CDs, DVDs with personal information on
• Salary documents
• Expired registration documents
• Documents containing any identity number
• Cut up invalid or expired identity cards before throwing them away, to make sure they cannot be used afterwards.
• Smash discs containing digital personal information.
• Rent a safety deposit box or get a personal safe to store important documents like your birth certificate, diplomas, marriage certificates and insurance certificates.
• Notify the relevant public authorities if you lose your passport or other identity documents, or if those documents are stolen.

Your personal computer

We use our computers to store lots of information about who we are and what we are interested in, such as our personal documents, pictures, movies, music and appointments.

Our computer also gets us onto the internet, where we are particularly vulnerable to identity theft.

So it is important to protect your computer against potential intruders, to prevent access to all that information about your life.

Tips:

• Never leave your laptop in the car or other places where it is visible and tempting for thieves.
• Be careful with personal storage devices, such as USBs, iPads, iPhones or other devices which may contain your personal information – don’t leave them in the train or café.
• Use a personal firewall (this is usually a default with most protective software).
• Use anti-virus software and keep it completely up-to-date.
• Always use automatic checks for updates.
• Always check if the security updates for your applications are installed.
• Uninstall programs you no longer use.
• Approve updates of programs you already have installed on your computer (e.g. Word, Internet browsers or Flash), but first make sure that the updates really are from the approved software company. There are malware products that pretend to be updates of common programs – so beware.
• Make sure all personal information is deleted from your computer before you sell it, throw it away or give it to someone. Just pressing the delete button isn’t enough, though. Remove and destroy the hard-drive or use an approved formatting application to ensure that no personal information can be retrieved.

Online shopping

Online shopping is very effective, but can also raise significant risks.

If you are uncertain about a website, don’t use it. Check online to see if it is a legitimate business.

Not all websites are what they appear to be, and you don’t want intruders to be able to monitor your transactions.

Tips:

• If you are paying for something online, make sure that section of the website is encrypted (the address starts with “https”). You should also look for the padlock in the address bar.
• Before shopping online at a site you haven’t used before:
• Test links
• Call customer service to make sure the business actually exists
• Ask the customer service simple questions about the business
• Always make sure you get a receipt or confirmation of the purchase when shopping online. Any legitimate business will send you one.
• Always remember to log out of internet banking services and public portals when you are finished. This can prevent hackers from obtaining information about you.
• Never provide passwords or login credentials on the phone or email.
• Never reply or click links in emails asking for personal information. It is probably not the bank, but criminals who are trying to get information about you.

Sharing personal information

The phone is a very useful took for identity thieves. If you are not careful, it can be quite easy for them to collect information from you or your contacts and then use that information against you. Legitimate businesses do not call customers and ask them for secret information over the phone.

We put a lot of information about ourselves online, particularly on social networking sites. Hackers or identity thieves may be able to break into user accounts.

Phishing emails can be used to fool you into giving up login credentials or passwords that allow access to your accounts and information.

Viruses and malware can also collect and distribute information from your computer.

Tips:

• Never provide password or other login credentials for user accounts over the phone, email or by other personal contact.
• If something looks too good to be true, it is. Never let the temptation of receiving a prize or reward cloud your judgement. Don’t be persuaded to provide information that could be harmful to you if it is in the wrong hands.
• Don’t put information on social networking sites that you aren’t willing to give to future employers, your family, your partner or your school administration.
• If you publish pictures of someone else on the internet, you must ask that person if it is OK to do this.
• Get familiar with the security settings on your social networking site (e.g. Facebook or Twitter) and use them to control who you want to get your information.
• Change passwords often and use different passwords for each site or business that you deal with.
• Never respond to requests for personal information in emails, or click on links that ask you for personal information. The request may be from a criminal who is trying to get information from you.

Your mobile phone

Yes, you have to secure your mobile phone.

The latest cell phones are actually tiny computers with increasing functionality. It will have all sorts of information about your work and private activities. So a mobile phone is a very valuable tool for an identity thief.

Unless your phone is secure, anyone who has it can gain access to your contacts and to get information about who you are and what you do.

Tips:

• Don’t store sensitive information on your mobile phone. In particular, avoid storing:
• Internet banking information, bank balance or card number
• Privacy or job-related emails
• Passwords and PINs
• Increase the security on your phone by:
• Using a PIN or password
• Encrypting the phone if this is available
• Contact your phone company and block your account if your phone is lost or stolen.
• Check your phone bills. Make sure even the smallest amounts are correct. Identity thieves often start with small amounts to check if you are paying attention. If you think something is amiss, investigate it straight away.

Passwords and codes

Think of your security codes, PINs and passwords in the same way as physical keys. You keep your physical keys secure, so do the same with your passwords and codes. This includes login credentials and passwords for your work and personal computers.

If someone gets your passwords, they can easily pretend to be you. They can also change or create business accounts and social networking accounts in your name. If an identity thief gets access to your social networking account, they will also get access to your contacts.

Ask your bank if you can set up a PIN or password that you can use to provide your identity when talking to the bank on the phone. This will help to protect your banking information from thieves.

Tips:

• Use a password that is easy for you to remember, but also hard to guess. For instance don’t use the name of your pet or family members.
• Have different passwords for each service or account, for instances email, internet banking or social networks.
• If you do have to write down your passwords or PINs, store them in a safe location separate from the thing that they are securing, and code them so only you know what they refer to. If you can memorise them, do – and shred, tear up or burn any note of the password or code.
• Never provide your PIN or password to someone that pretends to be helping out, like bank employees, customer service or others – either in person, on the phone or online.
• Make sure no one looks over your shoulder when you are entering your PIN in an ATM or EFTPOS machine.
• Shield your hand as you type the number in so that any hidden camera cannot see your PIN.
• Think of how you use payment cards, especially when overseas. Assess how safe it is to use it. If in doubt, use cash where you can.

Your driver’s licence

A driver’s licence number is a unique identifier that governments issue when you pass a driving test. People use their driver’s licence in many situations, for example, to enter licensed venues or to verify identity.

An identity thief may not be able to get a passport in your name with just a driver’s licence, but it may add creditability when combined with a fake birth certificate.

An identity thief can also pretend to be you, and can take out loans or get other benefits in your name using your driver’s licence number. This person could cause a lot of trouble for you with authorities through the unauthorised use of your licence, e.g. by hiring a car and damaging a vehicle in a traffic accident or committing other traffic offences.

Tips:

• Be very careful about sharing your driver’s licence number and never give your licence to someone else.
• Act quickly if you have lost your licence by reporting it to the authorities. If it is stolen, early cancellation (if possible) lessens the chances of you becoming a victim of identity crime.
• Try not to send someone your driver’s licence number by fax. If you do have to send it, call the person you are sending it to first to make sure they are expecting it. Never email your licence number.
• Take action if you find your driver’s licence number on documents where it seems to be unnecessary or where you have not provided it. Contact those who sent you the document and ask them why they have it and why they need it, or who provided it if you did not.
• Choose to deal with businesses who don’t use a driver’s licence number as part of their requirements.
• If you are asked for your driver’s licence so it can be scanned before you enter a venue, always ask if they really need to scan it. If it is necessary to provide your licence number, ask if they can simply sight it instead of scanning it. If they refuse, ask them how they will keep your information safe and secure.
• Destroy or shred your old licence.

Debit and credit cards

We use debit and credit cards all the time, but we need to be careful about who has that card information.

Never provide credit card details via phone or internet without being absolutely sure about who you are communicating with.

Identity thieves are especially interested in your card number, expiration date and the CVC (also known as the security code – the last 3 digits on the back of your credit card) code on the back of the card. Know where and to whom you are providing your card information.

Never let your credit or debit cards out of your sight.

Tips:

• Only provide card information if you are the one who initiated the contact. Thieves may contact you pretending to be a company you know.
• Always check your account details and bills. Take immediate action if even small or insignificant amounts are incorrect. It may be the beginning of an attempt at identity theft. Notify your card company if something seems out of order, even if you only are unsure.
• Create a list of card numbers, expiration dates and contact details for the card company, then store this list in a secure place. This may be useful if a card is lost or stolen and you need to get it blocked.
• Keep an eye on the expiration date on your card. If you don’t receive a replacement card within a reasonable time before the expiration date, contact the card company straight away. An identity thief may have stolen the replacement card from your mailbox. If you suspect the card has been stolen, block the account immediately.
• Always immediately block accounts that have been exposed to unauthorised withdrawals. Ask for written confirmation that the account has been closed.
• Cut up or shred cards before throwing them away.
• Your cards may also have identification details on the back that can be used as an ID if the card goes astray, so always know where your cards are and keep them safe.
• Don’t let the card out of your sight in a bar or restaurant. Watch what the staff member does with it – beware of double swiping that may indicate your card could be cloned.

Credit checks

Credit checks and evaluations are increasingly used in our society. A business will need a credit check on you, for example, if you are applying for a loan or credit arrangement.

Checking your credit record regularly is an important method of detecting identity theft. If you find out that there has been a credit check on you, and you did not know about this, then immediately make enquiries to find out who did the credit check and why.

Tips:

• If you find out that someone has done an unexpected credit check on you, ask the credit reporting company to show you the record. Who asked for the check and why? What information did they gain? Contact the organisation that asked for the check as well as the credit reporting company. Make sure your information is protected.
• If you suspect that you might be the victim of identity theft, immediately contact the credit reporting company and notify them. Ask them to put an alert on the system, and to block others from checking your credit-worthiness. Contact the police if necessary.
• The credit reporting company will probably have a system that you can use to temporarily cancel the blocking if you do need to allow an agency to do a credit check on you.
• If you find out that someone has done a credit check and then has set up a new account that you don’t recognise, contact the company that has the account (verbally and in writing) and ask it to terminate the account immediately. Explain that it is not your account. This is important if a dispute arises.
• Check your credit record at least once a year, and ask the credit reporting company to correct any wrong information that is on your account.