Protecting Personal Identity

Identity crime includes both identify fraud and identity theft. Identity theft is when a person fraudulently assumes another's identity, and identity fraud is unauthorised use of another person's personal information. The victims of identity crime oftenexperience a high financial cost as well as damage to their reputation and credit rating. Traditional means of committing identity crime such as 'dumpster diving' (retrieving bills, bank statements, expired credit cards etc from rubbish bins) or purse or wallet theft are still common, but use of the internet to facilitate identity crime is rapidly increasing, with the use of phishing and keyloggers. Although the methods used in identity crime have changed, traditional measures used to protect identityfrom this type of crime remain important. This information sheet outlines several methods that can be used to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity crime. Due to the increasing number and use of internet related methods being used to facilitate identity crime, the paper advises that it is also important to install and maintain up to date antivirus and anti-spyware software to reduce the risk of personal information being stolen by electronic means.