Identity fraud
Your identity and personal information are valuable. Criminals can find out your personal details and use them to open bank accounts and get credit cards, loans, state benefits and documents such as passports and driving licenses in your name.
You can notice that your identity is stolen by :
Unusual payments or direct debits appearing on your bank statements,important mail going missing - you should know when to expect a bank statement or a new cheque book, and if it doesn't arrive, tell your bank, contents of recycling bins and rubbish bags being tampered with, bills arriving for things that you haven't bought or for services you haven't ordered, new credit cards appearing on your credit record.It is important that you know that if somebody is using your ID number illegally ,that person can ruin your positive credit rating and you might end up being blacklisted.
What is the government doing about identity fraud.
The Department of Home affairs introduced certain changes with the Identity Document (ID) in 2000, such as the new Coat of Arms appearing on the Identity Document and the font and spacing of the letters inside the white box on page 1. As part of the continued drive to combat identity fraud and theft the Department of Home Affairs introduced further changes with effect of November 2010. This new South African Identity Document will keep many of the features of the Identity Document prior and it will be very hard for anyone to make and sell fake identities.
If you know that your identity is stolen you can stop it. By obtaining a copy of your credit profile and keeping in touch with your credit history on a regular basis, you will be able to immediately assess whether or not anyone has obtained credit on your name.
Therefore it is important that you make sure that you protect your details and be aware of any signs that your identity might have been stolen.
If you think that your identity has been stolen or you have information on people who are doing this crime do not hesitate to find advice and help by going straight to the police station.