Agape Blog

Identity theft is a rising phenomenon as people are trying to misuse the democratic nature of the internet. This term is used to refer to fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits (like personal or confidential information) by pretending to be someone else. Identity theft can be of the following types:

1. Financial identity theft
2. Criminal identity theft
3. Identity cloning
4. Business/commercial identity theft

There are a number of ways in which criminals can steal your identity, the one most commonly known is the raiding of bins, where personal information is stolen from your rubbish. Other forms are online, postal, theft of mail or telephone scams.

Identity theft when taken further gives rise to Identity Fraud, which is a situation when this information is used by criminals and fraudsters. Many victims of identity fraud do not realise they have had their identities stolen until it is too late. They start to suspect if card statements or bills either arrive late or do not turn up, unusual transactions on bills and bank statements, being contacted by companies about new accounts or services you are not aware of and being refused credit unexpectedly.

To create more awareness on these two threatning phenomenons the West Yorkshire Police has started the National Identity Fraud Protection Week from today. The program will raise awareness of identity theft and how it can be prevented. “Your identity is personal to you; don’t allow anyone to steal it”, is the punch line they are focusing on.