Police have warned the public to be on the lookout for fraudsters who not only steal bank cards and PIN numbers at auto teller machines, but are able to steal a person’s identity and commit crimes using the name of their victims .
Personal information is accessed from identity documents, passports, drivers’s licences, salary advices, municipal bills and bank statements and then used to to impersonate and commit crimes in the name of unsuspecting victims .
To help prevent such crimes from taking place police have urged the public to ensure that all documents containing personal information are kept in a safe place.
The following guidelines will reduce the risk of identity theft:
• Do not carry unnecessary personal information in your wallet or purse.
• Do not disclose personal information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do so by anyone via telephone, fax or even e-mail.
• Do not write down and carry PIN numbers and passwords in your wallet or purse and avoid obvious choices like birth dates and first names.
• Avoid using Internet cafés or unsecure terminals (hotels, conference centres, etc) to do your banking.
• Always protect your personal information by managing the information wisely and keep PINs and passwords confidential.
• When destroying personal information, either shred or burn it (do not tear it once through or put it in a garbage or recycling bag).
• Store personal and financial documentation safely.
• Pay attention to account cycles so that you can identify when communications intended for you, have not reached you.
• Follow up on account statements not received. They may have been stolen with the aim of victimizing you. Rather have your statements e-mailed to you. Request that sensitive documents be sent via registered mail or door-to-door mail, as items can easily be stolen while in the post.
• Verify all requests for personal information and only give it out when there is a legitimate reason to do so and install firewall and antivirus software protection to prevent a computer virus sending out personal information from your computer.
• Report lost or stolen IDs or driving licenses to the police immediately.
To prevent your ID being used to commit fraud if it is ever lost or stolen, you should alert the SA Fraud Prevention Service immediately on 0860 101 248 or at www.safps.org.za.
