In this age of electronic banking and online merchandising, the most valuable commodity for a criminal who doesn’t want to get his hands dirty is to steal your personal identity. With those basic details, they can do one of two things.

Firstly, they can use your identity to apply for credit and loans for themselves. Or even apply for such things as driving licences, or passports, which have a high value on the street.

Secondly, they can take your personal details and marry those with what they have got on you in terms of financial information. So, lets say someone knows your name, address and date of birth. And then they know which bank you have an account with. It may be that by adding the two together, they can start to guess usernames and passwords.

Most people for example base their passwords on some easily remembered fact. Great for the person, but also great for the criminal. For example, how many people use their birthdays for the basis of the bank card pin number?

So even if you know a limited amount of personal information about someone, then you can gradually put together the pieces of their life.

With identity theft, information, even just fragments, can help people build a profile on you.

And for anyone who has been the subject of identity theft, it’s no fun at all. Everything within your life has to be deconstructed to a point where you have to restart re-building your credibility.

Because, unfortunately, mud sticks and even though you are completely innocent, the onus is on you to prove that. So, if your identity is pinched, then prepare to have to do some work; it’s not going to be easy.

Identity Theft & How to Avoid It – Recap

• personal identification details are very valuable;
• personal identity used to get credit, or drain accounts;
• passwords help criminals by being based on personal details;
• nightmare for person whose identity is stolen.