Talk to Fellowes about personal identity fraud and you could win an Arcadia group voucher worth £200 NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

As part of National Identity Fraud Protection Month, Fellowes have asked us to talk to Mumsnetters about personal identity fraud protection.

Here's what Fellowes have to say: "Identity Theft is becoming an increasing threat to the whole family. It only takes one piece of personal information for a fraudster to build a bigger picture of you and use an identity to commit crime. And it’s not just hackers and cyber criminals targeting British households with scams requesting paper-based information sent through the post still a prevalent issue. The effects of personal identity fraud can be devastating: from racking up credit in someone’s name, financial loss to time taken to resolve the situation".

So, do you do anything to protect your personal information? Maybe you keep all your documents in a safe? Or shred them as soon as you've finished with them?

More recently, it has become even more important to protect yourself online too. Have you ever been sent 'phishing' emails? Do you try not to reveal too much personal information on social media?

Have you or anyone you know ever had any experiences with personal identity fraud?

Everyone who adds their comments on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer can win a £200 Arcadia group voucher. Eight runners-up will also receive a Fellowes 63Cb Cross-Cut shredder worth £135.


Please note your comments may be included on Fellowes' social media channels (including @STOP_IDFRAUDUK), and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

If you've been affected by personal identity fraud and are interested in being a case study for use in the media please add your details here. If you sign up, your details may be passed onto Fellowes for them to contact you. Please only sign up if you're happy for us to do this.


Thanks and good luck with the prize draw,

MNHQ

[VikingLady]

I get a lot of emails from a range of "banks" (clearly scams) phishing, but none have yet looked even remotely legit. The vast majority have typos in the subject line, which is something of a giveaway - I appreciate that not everyone would spot that though!

I had four bank cards stolen from my jeans back pocket, week after week, in one of our local shops. Always the same shop. I was terrified of ID fraud/theft etc and cancelled them immediately, and have always had insurance against ID theft!

[iwanttoscream]

We rip up and put in our compost bin, did on one occasion have someone nosing through our paper recycling bin. But we NEVER put any thing in there with our names, address etc.
I don't use the hole in the wall, in case it's been tampered with.
Have used a debit card online only once, to purchase my daughter's special school uniform as it's not in any shops.

[FutureMum]

Yes, it has happened twice, first time in 2002 to me and then very recently to DH. The first time the card was cloned at a cashpoint, but I had no awareness that this could happen, it was something that wasn't really talked about in the media the way it is today. The second time we believe it may have been of a result of an online transaction or online retailers which haven't kept their customers data safe.
A shredder is invaluable, throughout the years ours has helped us dispose safely of letters, old bank statements, no-longer-needed medical records, etc. So my advice to anyone who hasn't got one would be to get theirs to protect themselves. A second thing that is useful is to wriggle your card as you take it out of the cashpoint, as I have read this makes it more difficult to clone it (these days, I try to pay by card or use cashback rather than cashpoints, or use the cashpoint facilities inside and not outside the bank.)

[Scarifying]

Get your details removed from your electoral register through your local council AND get your details removed from WWW.192.com. WWW.192.com publish your details online and make your electoral register details google'able (is that a word?)
You have you print off a form and send it to them. Do one for every family member. Double check from time to time that your details haven't got back on their register. If they have send them a stroppy email.

[mignonette]

Good point Scarifying. We have removed our details. Thanks for reminding me.

[enjoyingscience]

Someone attempted to open a catalogue account in my name, and was only prevented from ordering some high value items by getting by birthday wrong by two weeks.

This came after receiving dozens of attempted accounts in names other than my own - easily resolved by 'returning to sender' and ensuring the company blocked by address.

I was incredibly impressed by the fraud team at the company, but this was a real wake up call as I'd never been that careful about shredding things with my name and address on, even though I've always made sure no account numbers or bank information went in the bin. I suspect that the birthday was no coincidence - my family celebrated by birthday early so there was plenty of clues in the recycling, even if they were off by a couple of weeks.

I'm not on a fraud alert for anyone trying to access credit in my name, but I'm still checking experian weekly. Very weird to think that someone was so determined to use my name and address :(

[enjoyingscience]

oops - that should say I'm now on a fraud alert!

[Letitsnow9]

My parents card has been cloned several times, we are all careful so don't know where. The first time someone cloned it they went into a shop and brought 2 iPads in a row. We shred all details documents but like the person above I don't protect my address much online. I always delete emails that want you to click on links to confirm something or to log in

[Ikeameatballs]

I don't think that I'm as good at this as I should be.

I struggle to remember passwords o need to Chang then frequently, so I suppose that's a good thing.

I try to burn documents on the fire, this happens more fen in the winter obviously!

I once ha my credit card details used fraudulently to purchase goods online. I had had to give the details over the phone in a shop to make a large purchase and I am sure that the deals were taken den then and used a few days later. It was stopped immediately by my bank.

[starfishmummy]

I have a separate credit card which I use for internet shopping or if giving details over the phone.
Neither my bank account nor savings account are internet based, nor do I want them to be.

[Willemdefoeismine]

It is something I am wary of because it has happened to me even though I'm careful almost to the point of paranoia. In fact when it happened I was a regular frequenter of Mums'n'Babies groups and I started to question the honesty of some of my fellow attendees. Despite being suspicious of fellow-mums, I actually think I was just very unlucky to use an external 'hole-in-the-wall' which had been tampered with.....

Now, I do try to ensure that wherever possible I only use cashpoint machines within banks or shopping centres that are regularly patrolled and locked at night-time.

Yes, I've been known to burn documents, shred and compost them. I am certainly a lot more careful than DP though.....

[lews]

I am not careful at all - I really must take action on this.

I tend to burn old documents - but not until there is a massive stack of them.

[MoogDroog]

Thankfully, I've not been a victim myself, by I do know somebody that has.
I must admit that I'm probably not as cautious as I ought to be. I try to be careful with printed information and always intend to shred it (although in reality, it just means a bit pile of papers waiting to be shredded).
I do try and check myself before I give too much away online though, my privacy settings are checked and I hope that I can spot a phishing email a mile off.

[BruthasTortoise]

We shred like demons in our home, have the most up to date antivirus software and use a specific e-mail address for online transactions. Phishing emails tend to easily spotted by people with some online savvy but an older member of my family was nearly caught out. Thank goodness they had second thought before handing over their bank details, I don't know what would've happened had they proceeded.

[CheekyChimpsMummy]

Without wanting to tempt fate.... this has not happened to me, or anyone I know, and I very much hope that it stays that way!

I'm very cautious with everything I do that relates to my families data safety. I shred documents, I burn documents, I use online statements where possible and have the appropriate programs on the computer to hopefully combat malicious online intruders.

I also report all phishing emails to my bank (HSBC)

My absolute pet hate with this is when a genuine company (Next, for example) phone in reference to an account you have with them and they then ask you to confirm certain pieces of personal data that you gave to them on opening your account. That makes me furious! I've certainly sent a few unsuspecting call centre workers away with a flea in their ear when this has happened to me. If they're calling me, why should I have to give out my date of birth and postcode to prove who I am?! Crazy.

[clubnail]

we have a small folder of essential documents hidden in our home in a place we don't expect a burglar to look (not giving it away on here). Everything else gets shredded as soon as it is not needed. most of our documentation is done online.

[majjsu]

I shred all personal info. I don't have any personal info available on social media.

I am shocked how many phishing emails I receive that thankfully go in junk. I do wonder how many fall for them.

My parents were on holiday in Thailand and used their Visa card in reputable restaurants and came home to discover someone else had been using their card.

Plus I don't like making payments over the phone, you just never know.

[telsa]

I got hacked and my identity stolen online. I think it was through my Paypal account, but it affected my ebay account too? my Paypal account was linked to my bank account and a few hundred pounds was taken. I got it back in the end but de linked the accounts for a while. Horrible. I have got lax again though. I don't shred bank letters etc either.

[CogitoErgoMum]

We burn the personal stuff. And do all we can to protect our online existence. But you have to give certain information to large corporations - insurers, mortgage providers etc - and while there are rules and regs they have to comply with, I am not convinced the staff or the systems are savvy enough to ensure our personal information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

[kilcrea]

We don't have a shredder but go through all junk mail before it goes to the bin to make sure that all personal details are either torn off or obliterated with a marker- a shredder would definitely make life easier though! As for phishing, the emails are getting more sophisticated - I got a very clever one recently claiming to be from Paypal which almost fooled me into thinking it was genuine. So I think these scams have come a long way from the ones about winning the Nigerian lottery etc :-)

[MTBMummy]

I don't shred my post - but it does all get burnt. General junk mail with no address goes straight into recycling

I am paranoid, but I am an IT security professional, so it goes with the territory

[gretagrape]

I have one email address for friends and one for companies/competitions and it's also set up with my name spelled differently so when I receive post with my name spelled incorrectly I know I can chuck it straight in the bin.

I burn all post/old paperwork.

When I take something back to a shop and they ask for my details I give them false ones.

I'm not on facebook or anything like that, and the name I've used on MN isn't my real one.

My credit card is only used for online purchases and is linked to an account that is only used to fund that card so my current account isn't linked to it at all.

Depressingly, when I changed my name into my married name by renewing my passport, I received junk mail 3 days later in my married name - the only way that could have happened is by the passport office passing on my details as I hadn't notified anyone else of the name change.

[teenagetantrums]

My post i just chuck in the bin, good luck with stealing my identity the only thing they will get are my debts that even i cant pay.

I ignore all phising emails, i hopefully have taught my teenagers the same.

I am on facebook but have high privacy settings, i suppose if someone wanted to steal my identity they could if they really wanted but i dont worry about it that much.

[teenagetantrums]

Oh and know one person that had her credit card cloned but no one who has suffered with identity theft.

[mindingalongtime]

I've had my debit card cloned, it was really scary the bank phoning to check purchases being made on my card and it was in my hand when they were talking to me. They promptly cancelled it and left me in London not able to get any cash out! Thank goodness I use DH's card for cash!