Identity Theft-it’s real (and it’s real devastating)

Identity Theft is no idle threat; it’s real and it's devestating.

Criminals obtain stolen identities most often by starting with one stolen or forged document to obtain others like a driver's license or a passport which facilitates other crimes or helps conceal their actual identity.

 

The total reported dollar loss reported by Canadians resulting from Identity theft? :

A noteworthy $13.2 million in 2011 which is an alarming increase from the estimated $9.6 million in 2010. It might be even more alarming to know that many such losses do not get reported. A recent RCMP report noted that only 13% of such thefts get reported.

Here’s a list of tips from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre to help minimize the risk of identity theft.

1. Before you reveal any personally identifying information, find out how it will be used and if it will be shared.

2. Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don't arrive on time. Where did they go?

3. Guard your mail. Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after delivery. Ensure mail is forwarded or re-routed if you move or change your mailing address.

4. Utilize passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SIN or your phone number.

5. Minimize the identification information and number of cards you carry.

6. Do not give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you have initiated the contact or know whom you're dealing with.

7. Keep items with personal information in a safe place. An identity thief will pick through your garbage or recycling bins. Be sure to tear or shred receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements and credit offers you get in the mail.

8. Give your SIN only when absolutely necessary. Ask to use other types of identifiers when possible.

9. Don't carry your SIN card; leave it in a secure place.

And here is one I will add because it happened to us and it can happen to you if you happen to be considering the sale of your house.

10.  Beware of the unsafeguarded Open House!

The kind of Open House that time forgot and so they are set up like they were 20+ years ago. An age when computers & electronics were a lot smaller and not as marketable, when identity theft was not a real concern and when prospective thieves were not able to see all of the detail about your house online to determine if it would be worth the drive. That would be the kind of Open House where as many visitors as show up are allowed to wander your house unaccompanied and at their leisure no matter how large your house happens to be and no matter if the realtor is elsewhere or kept busy with other visitors. The kind of Open House where you don’t get asked for any identification and you can keep your winter coat on and your handbag over your shoulder. Our family had $4,000 worth of electronics, cameras, and jewelry stolen from our nightstands and underwear drawers this past year. You can't put a value on the Christmas pictures taken a few weeks before or a hard-earned University ring from StFX. The experience has tested our family of 4's faith in human kindness and the very real possibility of a case of identity theft will hover over us for some time to come.

Open Houses are a prime resource for finding a document that won’t be missed but yet a document that can lead to a devastating loss of identity down the road.

For all of the effort and the attention on how and why to stage a house there should be the same emphasis on ensuring at least a minimum level of safeguards are in place to protect your property and that includes your identity. The more experienced and professional realtors know this and they will ensure that those safeguards are in place as compared to the more inexperienced realtors. This knowledge should help differentiate the realtors for you. Make sure you have a conversation about it with your realtor.

In the meantime, I have taken on yet another advocacy project - to help bring about legislation that would ensure that a minimum level of protective safeguards are in place to protect consumers in Ontario. So stay tuned.

You can find more information on Identity Theft on this website  info@www.antifraudcentre.ca