Identity theft can be devastating. Innocent and responsible people can be left on the hook for enormous debts, their savings stolen and their credit destroyed by complete strangers.
Thieves will use your name, address and any other personal information to get new credit cards, take out loans or open bank accounts and write bad cheques. Creditors may start calling you, wanting payment for things you haven’t bought. It can take months or even years to clear your good name and restore your credit rating.
Joe Marchello is a Toronto-area Chartered Accountant who says that cash machines, credit-card swipers and the Internet are all fertile operating ground for thieves anywhere in the world. They’re ingenious at getting your card numbers and passwords. Once they do, they can find out almost anything about you and pretty much take over your financial life.
Much of the identity-theft nightmare can be avoided. Here are 10 of Joe’s top tips to safeguard your vital information against theft, fraud or chicanery:
Watch out for “shoulder-surfers” – people who loiter around ATMs trying to read your PIN as you enter it. “Skimming” is also common, where thieves corrupt an ATM’s magnetic-strip reader with a device that copies your information and then re-encodes it on a fake card.
Be alert to “phishing” – legitimate-looking e-mails from thieves actually impersonating banks or financial institutions. They may tell you to click on a link that takes you to a phony bank website where you’re asked for codes or passwords. Honest banks will never e-mail customers or ask for their passwords.
Review your statements, bills and investment information regularly. Busy people are often most vulnerable to identity theft. Don’t wait months to check your paperwork.
Shred financial records, bills and any mail with personal or access information before discarding it in the trash or recycle bin.
Practise credit-card safety. Sign the back of your cards immediately and don’t let them out of your sight, as they can be copied quickly. Cancel any cards you’re not using, and keep a list of all your credit-card numbers in a safe place. Carry only the identification and credit cards that you need.
Don’t carry your social insurance card with you. Memorize the number and leave it at home in a safe place. There are rarely legitimate reasons to ever disclose either it, or your bank deposit information.
Never give out personal information over the telephone, unless you initiated the call. Ask for a reference number and call the organization back. Better yet, ask them to send any information in the mail.
Protect all personal information on your computer with a secure password. Change it often.
Request and review your personal credit report at least once a year.
Don’t be paranoid. Practise identity-theft protection by being proactive, protective and alert.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario’s 33,000 Chartered Accountants and 5,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession’s high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. The Institute works in partnership with the other provincial Institutes of Chartered Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants to provide national standards and programs that are used as examples around the world. </em>
