Your personal information is very critical and important and can be easily used by someone else if you are not careful enough and thus can lead you into many problems. These details can be as crucial as your passwords for your debit or credit cards. These days instances of cybercrime have increased tremendously and many involved transactions are done in name of a person although the said person is clueless about it. Your details like name, address, date of birth and bank account details are thus very important and should be kept safe.
Stealing your identity would simply mean another person doing something in your name. Thus by gathering your personal information, a lot can be done and you will be unaware of it. There are many ways that people steal identity or personal information.[ads2]
Take a look at some of them below:
- Do not reply to phone messages or emails from an unknown person asking about any personal information. In fact, many companies make it clear to their clients that they never ask for personal information by these means.
- At times you are asked to fill a survey or so, remember that in there also you cannot be asked to fill details about your bank cards.
- Cybercrimes are not only conducted by outside people but also by relatives and those you are familiar with. Keep all your passwords with you and avoid sharing them with anyone.
Wondering how can identity theft affect you? Well, if someone has become a victim of identity theft, then the transaction is considered as fraud and the person can very well be charged thus it impacts your personal finances. This can cause further damage to you by affecting your credit score thus making it difficult to obtain loans, mortgage, and credit cards thus making you stuck in a rut.
The problem of identity theft in Australia:
Identity theft is a big problem across the world and Australia is no exception. Identity theft and crimes associated with it are growing rapidly all over the world as we are progressing more into technology. A survey tells that in Australia itself, 1.2 million Australian’s 15 years or older than that have been victims of identity theft at least once.
Banks and agencies are continuously working on making the internet safer but there are some loopholes still to be dealt with. Identity thefts alone have costs Australia about $15 billion annually.
