Identity Fraud – Save Money – Guard Against It!

Identity Fraud – Save Money – Guard Against It!

The need to be alert and save money has become even more important taking into consideration recent events. This involved the loss of important financial information regarding 9.5m parents and 15.5 children.

This has since been repeated on more than one occasion, which makes this warning even more relevant.

Here are ten tips to help you save money and prevent against identity fraud. Just imagine finding someone else had been dipping their fingers into your bank account without permission?
Read on - This will focus your attention.

1. Always check your bank and credit cared statements and as an additional precaution, change your password if necessary.

2. Never give your personal identification number PIN to anyone else. Avoid using the same PIN on more than one account.

3. Invest in a shredder – these are around £30 and choose one that has a cross cut operation. Shred all your personal documents. You may well find this is one of the best investments you make. This is particularly important when you are moving or in a rush - DON'T BIN IT SHRED IT! Go to Tip No. 3for a handy tip on maintaining your shredder.

4. Always inform your bank, insurers and other financial institutions of your new address when you move. To possibly save a lot of bother, take a look at www.iammoving.co.uk

5. Invest in a good anti-virus system for your computer. Also protect yourself with a firewall.

6. Remain alert and identify the warning signs of fraud as soon as possible. Often fraudsters will take a small amount from your account to test whether it is working and operational before going in for the kill and removing a large sum. Losses from fraud already mount up to around £1.7bn. per year

7. Ask for a copy of your personal credit file from credit reference agencies such as Experian and Equitas. This will cost you around £2.00 for one sent to you by post to £1 for one sent online immediately. You can also secure a FREE report on some sites.

8. Sign up for a service that will monitor your credit report and notify you if someone applies for credit in your name.

9. Consider insurance to help deal with identity theft. CIFAS. the UK’s fraud protection service offers this, provided on their behalf by Equifax, at a cost of around £11.75

10. Always seek compensation if you are a victim of identity fraud. Under the Banking Code your bank or building society will reimburse any money taken from your account.

11. When you move home/house always make sure you register with the Post Office (Royal Mail) to have your letters forwarded to your new address. It is best to have this done for a full twelve months which should cope with any annual subscriptions etc., you have falling due in this time. This will ensure your post does not fall into the wrong hands.

If you follow these simple tips you will make it more difficult for any fraudster to help him/herself to your money.

There are so many people who have a legitimate reason for dipping their hands into your bank account, i.e., possible credit card bills to pay, the Government and local Councils taking their taxes, etc. that you need to be extra vigilant.

There are also many other people who would rather live on your hard work and off your back than do a proper job for themselves; you really need to be extra alert in today's world.

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