Common Types of Identity Theft

One of the reasons why identity theft is so prevalent these days it that it is actually very easy for thieves to access the personal data of others, and many of the common methods for this are quite low tech, and incredibly effective.

Shoulder Surfing
PIN numbers are an excellent security method for plastic cards, and much safer than the old methods of signatures that could be easily faked.  However many thieves are adapt at ‘shoulder surfing’, which basically means standing behind you when you use your card at the cash machine or check out, and memorising your card details and PIN numbers.  They will then attempt to steal the card you have been using, or if they have managed to get your credit card number in full they can simply use your card remotely to pay for goods or services over the phone or online.

Dumpster Diving
This is still the most common way in which thieves access the personal information of others, and is very simple and very effective, as over 70% of all household’s still throw valuable documents into the rubbish without shredding them first, such as credit card bills, bank statements, and mobile phone bills, and regardless of whether these are out of date or not they still contain a great deal of sensitive personal information that thieves can use to carry out fraudulent crimes.

Mail Theft
Thieves can also attempt to intercept your mail before it gets to you, either by infiltrating the mail service itself or bribing existing employees to work in their behalf, or stealing it directly from your mailbox, porch or apartment hallway.  Shared accommodation is very vulnerable to this sort of theft as the mail often just gets dumped in an open, communal area whilst awaiting collection by individuals, so you must make sure you have received all of your bank statements and bills every month, and if any are missing chase them up.  If you are unsure about the security of your mail, and are expecting an important item such as a new credit card or checkbook, it can be a good idea to get this delivered to your local branch or post office for you to pick up in person.