If your credit card statement has transactions you don’t know about, don’t just dismiss them as a banking error. It could be worth checking to see if you are a victim of identity theft.

Identity theft is where someone gets hold of information that can identify you, such as a credit or debit card, passport or driver’s licence, and uses that to create a new identity for himself or herself. The person may also use those details to buy goods or services which you may find on your credit card statement.

How Fraudsters Get Your Details

Identity fraudsters have a number of methods for getting hold of people’s personal details. A simple one is to rummage through someone’s rubbish, looking for old receipts they have thrown away. This can be a simple way of getting hold of a credit card number.

Identity fraudsters can also steal your mail or redirect it to a different address, so that letters addressed to you go somewhere else, and your information goes with them.

Another method of gaining personal information is by stealing a wallet or purse with debit and credit cards, perhaps a driving licence and old receipts. And a house burglary will yield even more rewards for fraudsters with even more information lying around for the taking.

Fraudsters have also gone high tech and use computer hacking and ’skimming’ machines to get hold of information. ‘Skimming’ allows fraudsters to copy credit card details from the ATM and clone your credit card in a couple of minutes.

Identity Theft Checklist

If you think you might be a victim of identity theft, ask yourself the following questions: