Shoppers are warned not to let their guard down when it comes to protecting their personal information and financial well-being this Black Friday and festive season.
That’s the warning from TransUnion director Garnet Jensen, who says that while identity theft is a year-round problem, the holiday season is a prime time for criminals looking to steal your credit card details and other financial information such as your driver’s license or identity document.
“The holidays present a wealth of opportunity for identity thieves,” said Jensen.
“Shoppers are rushed and doing more transactions than usual, and stores are crowded. It’s easy to become less guarded about exposing your personal information – both in high-tech ways like phishing scams, and in traditional ones, such as a stolen wallet.”
“Identity theft is a real fear. According to our survey, almost half of the respondents (49 per cent) have either personally been a victim of identity theft or know someone who has, with more than one in 10 respondents (11 per cent) personally falling victim to identity theft.”
Jensen said importantly, for shoppers heading for crowded malls, the most popular ways identity thieves get access to your sensitive personal information remains through physical theft (28 per cent), like pick pocketing or bag-snatching.
“Theft of banking information by ATM scams or from online, mobile or person-to-person transactions was mentioned by 27 per cent of respondents and 18 per cent mentioned online breaches such as hacking and phishing as a cause of identity theft.”
The problem with identity theft, says Jensen, is that victims typically only find out about the theft months later.
“By this time their account is in arrears and other credit accounts have been opened in their name.
“Generally, thieves will use the victim’s identity to purchase products and services on credit, particularly for high-end goods like electronics and luxury items,” he said.
“In the worst-case scenario, thieves can use your ID to apply for large value credit purchases such as vehicle finance or even commit a crime using your identity.”
Top five tips for keeping your ID safe this festive season:
- Keep your identity documents safe. Be careful where you keep your ID documents, and don’t carry them on you if you don’t have too. 14% of ID theft victims say the theft of their ID documents resulted in their identity being compromised.
- Be alert when using ATMs. Look out for anything even faintly suspicious when banking at ATMs or card terminals. Pay attention to the device being used and your surroundings.
- Shop from reputable websites. Before providing any personal or payment information, ensure the URL is secure and begins with “https” (not “http”). Also ensure that the domain name in the URL is the same as the organisation you are transacting with.
- Beware of calls, SMSs and emails bearing gifts. If a caller, email or SMS offers financial reward or requests personal or banking information, delete it. And never, ever click on a link you don’t know.
- Sign up for credit alerts and check your credit report. One of the first places identity theft shows up is on your credit report. It is therefore important to regularly check your credit report for changes. Our credit alert product will notify you of critical changes to your credit report – like a credit enquiry or new account.
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