Identity theft is one of the most worrying fraudulent crimes of all, as it can literally affect anyone, regardless of age, sex or circumstance, and in many cases there is very little that victims, law enforcement agencies, the government and financial institutions can do to prevent the theft from happening in the first place.

Identity theft is a major global concern, and as the economic crisis around the world worsens more and more desperate people will be turning to identity theft crime as a way to fund their lifestyles, resulting in some shocking statistics:

•    97% of all victims will be targeted by perfect strangers, and in the case of online frauds many of these will not even be in the same country, making it even more difficult for law enforcement agencies to track the crime.

•    On average it takes over 18 months for victims to discover that their identity has been stolen, as in many cases there is no obvious event to indicate this theft (such as a lost or stolen wallet or house burglary).  This means that a lot of damage can be done by identity thieves before the crime is discovered and by then they will have most likely have moved on to their next victim.

•    It can take at least 300 hours of work to resolve an identity theft case, which includes informing law enforcement agencies, credit references bureaus and relevant financial institutions, and also all of the many follow up communications victims will need to carry out in order to prove the theft has happened and clear their names.

•    Over 97% of all households carelessly throw away rubbish that could give identity thieves access to personal information that could be used for a number of fraudulent crimes.  Be safe and not sorry, and shred everything with your name address and other personal information (bank statements, household bills etc) before you throw it away.

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