Protect your identity

Those with shared access to their home, such as in flats, can find new debit cards and their PINs going missing, or routine utility bills swiped for the information they contain.

It’s amazing what information people will happily hand over to strangers, especially when people call in person or on the phone claiming to be from the water company.

Compared with the everyday world, opportunities for ID theft online are relatively limited. There are two main types of internet-based ID theft: the first is technical in nature and involves spyware that can be used to commit a broad range of crimes.

Our mini-Workshop (see the link at the end of this feature) shows you how to install and use the very latest version of Webroot’s Spysweeper software to root out spyware and defend your PC against it in future.

The second type is what the police describe as an old crime committed using new tools: confidence tricks. Like all con tricks, internet swindles target the naïve and the greedy.

People still fall for the Nigerian email scam, where a fraudster poses as a respectable figure and promises a share of a fortune to the kind soul who will permit him to place it in their bank account as he moves to the country.

He’ll need your account number and internet banking password, of course.

Then there are the wonders of winning the online lottery; usually a lottery the person hasn’t entered and for which the organiser needs to confirm your bank details in order to deposit your winnings.

These are the clear signals of a criminal who wants to empty, not fill, your account and then use the details to assume your identity.

Another well-known example is the email that prompts you to ‘confirm’ account details to your online bank.

Detecting ID theft
Unlike most fraud, ID theft becomes apparent only when the bills arrive. You should check debit and credit card statements carefully to check that you made all the transactions.

Often ID thieves will use a stolen card number to purchase a small item first to prove it is valid. Call the bank to discuss unfamiliar transactions and direct debits immediately.

Shared post boxes or hallways leave post vulnerable ­ if you are expecting a new card ask the bank whether you can arrange to collect it from the branch.

Another group at particular risk is those who have moved house; if you are moving, contact the bank formally to give the new address and date of moving.