Safeguard your money by beating the fraudsters!

With Christmas only a week away, this is the most popular time of the year for most of us to eat, drink, be merry and spend, spend, spend. But a growing number of us will wake up on Boxing Day to much more than we bargained for. With identity fraud now the fastest growing crime in the UK it is distinctly possible that many of us will pay for more than just our own Christmas presents.

Identity fraud takes place when criminal is able to acquire enough personal information to impersonate you. This means that once this information has been gathered a fraudster can apply for any number of things which are likely to leave you seriously in debt ranging from credit cards, store cards and personal loans to the more serous aspects of organised crime and money laundering.

While this is now a huge problem in the UK it is also one of the easiest to counteract, providing we all follow a few very basic rules. So to help keep your ID safe and make sure that you only pay for your own presents this Christmas we have put together a basic guide to help you on your way.


At home

o        Don?t be in too much of a hurry to tidy up before friends or relatives arrive. Anything that has the slightest bit of personal information on it can be a gift o an ID fraudster. A discarded bank or credit card statement or even an application form from a catalogue is enough for someone to apply for credit in your name. Always make sure that personal info is disposed of safely and that doesn?t mean in the bottom of the bin with the Sunday dinner leftovers!

o        Contact the Post Office immediately if you think your normal post is failing to arrive especially at Christmas. According to Experian?s Victim?s of Fraud service, someone intercepting your post is the most common method of ID theft.

o        Buy a shredder and as a rule of thumb shred everything containing information about your name, date of birth, address or any financial information.

At the shops


o        Before setting out make sure that you only take what you need to do your shopping. Do you really need to take your drivers license and every one of your store or credit cards? Leave what you don?t need at home, even a letter with your name and address on it left in a handbag could be an early Christmas present for an ID fraudster.

o        When you do finally hit the high street make sure that your wallet or purse is kept zipped up especially at this time of year when the hustle and bustle of Christmas crowds make shopping centres the perfect hunting ground for pick pockets.

o        If you do need to make a visit to the cash point while you are out make sure that the machine hasn?t been tampered with in any way. Always shield the keypad when entering your PIN and make sure no one is standing over your shoulder trying to see your number. If in doubt walk away, let?s face it there are plenty of cash points out there.

Out on the town


o        Particularly at this time of year, it is all too easy for us to let our guard down after Christmas drinks or parties. Never leave personal items unattended. How often do you see a handbag or jacket hanging on the back of a chair! Always try to leave anything with personal information in it attended by friends, if you can?t, take it with you however awkward this might be.

o        Your credit/debit card should never leave your sight! Never under any circumstances hand your credit card to someone else to pay for things. If a waiter disappears with your card it will take only a matter of seconds for them to copy all of your details and you could well have an empty bank account before you wake up in the morning.


On the internet

o        Only ever use sites that offer secure payment facilities when paying by card ? look for https in the url as the s stands for secure, some sights also display a closed padlock symbol on the payment page. There is also the option to sign up for MasterCard and Visa services which allow you to register your card details on a secure server therefore preventing traders from seeing them.

o        Try to use reputable web sites that give contact details on the site and if you are in any doubt try to call them and check them out. Remember, something that seems too good to be true usually is!

o        With the recent boom in social networking sites it is vitally important not to post anything that could be used for ID theft. You might not post everything at the same time but there are now organised gangs deliberately targeting these sites who are more than happy to wait months, building up the necessary information.


If you suddenly experience trouble in attaining credit, the easiest way to check that you have not been a victim of identity theft is to sign up for an online credit report and identity fraud protection services. These services, such as CreditExpert by Experion, allow you to view your credit history on line as often as you like. They can also send alerts by text or e-mail if there is a significant change in your report which could indicate an identity theft.

While most of the points above seem like basic common sense, the huge rise in this type of crime suggests that we are still failing to safeguard our personal details even though most ID fraud is one of the easiest types of crime to combat. By following a few simple guidelines we should be able to beat the fraudsters before they even get started!

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