Credit Card Identity Theft

I have recently discovered that a quarter of all people in the UK are or know of someone who has been a victim of identity theft. Identity crime is the UK fastest growing crime.

Criminals have easy pickings from stealing your mail searching your rubbish bins in an attempt to gain access to private and personal details that are needed to gain credit. Having your credit card details copied and the sent or sold to the criminal. If your are a victim of this type of crime then you will be unaware until a unexpected large credit card bill or you apply for a loan, mortgage or any credit and find out that these unscrupulous thieves have stolen your identity and ran up huge debts in your name. Being told by your bank that they we not like to lend you money because of your poor credit history may be not only a shock but also embarrassing. This is a desperate situation to find yourself in and the average time to repair your credit is around 18 months. Having to deal with the police, debtors and credit rating agencies can be laborious as well as very time consuming and frustrating.

Following the sound advice of shredding all of your personal letters credit card bills indeed anything with your personal details may not protect you alone. The advent of the new Chip & PIN for credit cards will offer more protection, as long as you keep your Credit card PIN secret. I have recently read of someone who had £500 withdrawn from his account with the correct PIN. After complaining to his credit card provider they eventually agreed to reimburse the money so long as he reported the theft to the police. It was only then that his teenage some admitted the theft. So keep those credit cards PIN secret.

The issue of identity theft and credit card theft are very serious subjects and the debate on how to tackle these crimes rages on with the hardliners wanting more protection but civil liberty groups claiming that credit card companies are building up a mass knowledge of consumer spending habits and trends, very valuable information to manufacturers and retailers alike. The need for an original, unique, personal identification system, which is 100% reliable, is still required. But to achieve this the UK population may have to give up some of those civil liberties in order to achieve security. The need for a sensible compromise is becoming more urgent as identity theft hits new depths.