Most people in Pakistan don’t think twice about taking any sort of measures to prevent identity theft because they don’t see it as a threat or even realize how dangerous it can be.
Well, for starters, identity theft is no joke. It is also much more prevalent than you might think.
Imagine putting a portion of your hard earned money in a savings account every month only to later find out that your data has been breached and there aren’t any funds left in your account. It sounds terrible, right? Unfortunately, anyone can be a victim of identity theft. However, before we discuss how to prevent identity theft from happening, we need to learn what it is and how does it occur.
What Is Identity Theft?
Identity theft is also called identity fraud. It basically occurs when someone deliberately obtains your personal information to either use it in a fraudulent scheme, take a loan on your name, access your bank account or commit any other similar crimes.
The best way to prevent identity theft is to be extra vigilant about who has access to your credit card,
How does identity theft happen?
Here are some of the things that can lead to identity theft.
- Stolen wallet or mobile phone
- Bank data breaches
- Online phishing and malware
- Credit card or mail theft
- Hacking your devices or WiFi
- ATM Skimming
Once this stolen personal data finds its way to dark web marketplaces, things can get completely out of hand. Therefore, it’s always better to report such incidents to concerned authorities as soon as possible in order to minimize the damage.
If you ever lose your wallet, make sure to call the bank and ask them to block your credit or debit card. Similarly, if someone steals your phone, contact your service provider to block your sim so that your number cannot be used for any fraudulent activities. You should also file a police report to prevent identity theft after losing a wallet.
While there are several types of identity theft, such as character identity fraud where a criminal commits a crime in someone else’s name resulting in the innocent party’s arrest, financial identity theft is perhaps the most common of them all.
Cybercrime laws in Pakistan Pertaining to Identity Theft
Federal Investigation Agency (or FIA) states an individual’s identity is stolen every three seconds as a result of cybercrime.
In order to fight
Furthermore, in August 2016, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed the hotly-debated Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015. As far as identity theft is concerned, the law states whoever obtains, sells, transmits or uses an individual’s identity or related information without authorization shall be punished for up to three years in prison or with a PKR 5 million fine or both. Offenses include using someone’s email address to pose as someone else or claiming false identity on the phone.
7 Easy Ways to Prevent Identity Theft
Here are some simple ways to prevent identity theft from happening to you.
- Check your bank accounts regularly
- Report any discrepancies in your credit card bills
- Password protect all of your devices
- Activate multi-factor authentication
- Shred your important mail and bills
- Only make online payments to trusted sites
- Be careful about disclosing your personal information
Let’s further discuss these strategies to prevent identity theft.
Check your bank accounts regularly
This one is a no-brainer.
If you don’t use online banking, you should think about activating the service as it will allow you to constantly keep a check on your total balance. Moreover, along with setting SMS alert for every single transaction (both credit and debit) from your account, consider setting up an email alert as well.
However, in order to prevent identity theft online, always ensure you are connected to a safe, private network before entering your account details to log in. For instance, accessing your bank account while being connected to WiFi at a public coffee shop can have disastrous consequences.
Furthermore, most banks send out 6-month account statements to their customers without any extra charges. Make sure to carefully study these reports. It will not only help you detect any unknown purchases that might have been made on your card but will also help you keep your spending habits in check and successfully maintain a home budget.
Report any discrepancies in your bills
In case you come across any suspicious transactions on your credit card bill or bank statement, notify the bank immediately. It doesn’t matter if the amount is minor or if it only happened once, ignoring such incidents can put you at risk of massive fraud. Being proactive about these things is the best way to prevent identity theft.
You can also help prevent identity theft by keeping a log of all possible transactions. It’s essential for account holders to know how much money they have in the bank so no one could steal it without being noticed.
As mentioned above, it is recommended you opt for monthly or bi-monthly e-statements as paper mail can create quite a lot of clutter and is also not good for the environment.
Use strong passwords
All of your electronic devices, particularly phones and laptops, need to be password protected.
While it’s one of the simplest ways to prevent identity theft, you must remember that thieves and scammers can be really good at guessing your passcodes. It’s understandable that you would want to use a password that you can easily remember, but someone with access to your personal information can easily use your mother’s maiden name or your date of birth to access your devices.
The same goes for other passwords. It’s advised to update your passwords every two months or so to prevent identity theft on the internet. If you have a hard time remembering the combinations, consider replacing some of the alphabets or digits with the characters on your keyboard such as ‘$’ and ‘&.’
In addition to that, never, under any circumstances, save your passwords on your phone or laptop.
Activate multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication is like a layered defence mechanism that protects against the threat of identity theft.
Generally, multi-factor authentication systems prevent identity theft by combining two or more independent security measures – like a password, a security question and biometric verification. For instance, if someone tries to access your bank account online, you might receive an SMS or an email alert with a one-time passcode that is essential to log in.
In another scenario, if someone steals your credit card and attempts to swipe it a shop, they might be required to complete biometric verification or enter a pin code. This is yet another simple but effective
Shred your important mail and bills
Before you start worrying about how to prevent identity theft online, pay some attention to all the physical ways someone can get access to all your personal information and then impersonate to open a bank account or do something even worse.
To start off, always make sure to shred your bank statements, credit card bills and other important mail with your name, phone number and other details before throwing them into the trash.
Some of the documents that you should shred include old copies of identity cards, tax returns, pay slips, sales receipts, ATM receipts and any sort of photo ID. If you don’t have a shredder, use a black marker to block all of your personal information before tearing up the documents and putting them in the bin.
Only make online payments to trusted sites
Who doesn’t love online shopping?
Although there is nothing better than buying things from the comfort of your home, online shoppers must be very careful while paying for their purchases. Apart from steering clear of any suspicious looking external links, always do a quick Google search to determine if the site you’re buying from is even credible. Sometimes, going through the website’s reviews on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook also helps prevent internet identity theft.
Moreover, if the URL of the website reads “http” instead of “https” in the browser window, your information is definitely not secure. However, sometimes “https” sites are not secure as well.
Be careful about disclosing your personal information
Social media is all about oversharing.
While people in your friend list might not particularly care about your parent’s birthdays, internet scammers can use this information to commit fraud in your name.
In order to prevent identity theft online, keep yourself from disclosing too much of your personal information on the internet. If possible, you should also consider changing your privacy settings so only a select few are privy to what you post on your timeline.
These strategies to prevent identity theft might not be completely foolproof, they will definitely lower the risk of you becoming a victim of a fraud.
Meanwhile, if you are looking for ways to save up for something important, like buying your dream house or going on a trip abroad, don’t forget to check out a few simple tips on how to save money while living in Pakistan. For more information on finance-related issues, stay tuned to Zameen Blog – the best lifestyle blog in the country.
