Important Safety measures against Identity Theft in Pakistan
Identity theft is when someone tries to impersonate a person or business, mostly to steal from them and it has become an increasingly common practice in Pakistan. There are several ways the impersonator may try and steal the ID and credibility of a person or business.
There isn’t a problem that is unsolvable. Here is how you can protect your identity as well as your business while you grow digitally.
General Internet Safety
- Ensure the devices, browsers and the internet connections you use are secure
- Don’t use a credit card online to pay bills or make purchases unless it is a secure site. If and when you do, make sure to either control its spending limit or remove it from the site and browser.
- Refrain from saving your credit card information on your browser. It is tedious to repeatedly feed in your information every time you make a transaction through your card, but it could save you from fraud.
- Incase you use a debit card, make sure you regularly check whether or not you have any unknown or unintentional subscriptions that demand scheduled payments.
- Select strong passwords for any sites that contain personal information. These include: credit card, bank, phone, Internet, insurance accounts, and your pictures. Use a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters to make stronger passwords
Credit Identity Theft
In case of credit identity theft,
- Freeze your credit immediately.
- Keep an eye out for phishing websites and spoofing- websites that have fake links or a website page that asks for personal information but looks unusual. Double check the link in the search bar to ensure you’re on the correct site.
- As advised above, using strong passwords is imperative.
- People tend to not collect all the copies of their ID documents if they are not clearly printed, or improper in some other way. You must collect all the copies of your ID documents, and dispose them off later as per your convenience.
- Cross your ID documents before giving them away.
- It is good to know why your ID information is being collected. Ask why ID documents are needed if you are ever asked to submit them.
Sign up and make a profile on Idenfo Direct so it is easier to verify you and rule out the fraudster.
Medical Identity theft:
- Immediately contact your insurance firm to freeze all operations related to your insurance plan and notify them you are not benefitting from it.
- Provide your insurance company and the medical institution with enough evidence that you have been impersonated.
Synthetic Identity Theft:
Synthetic ID fraud uses a combination of fake IDs and real user data. Such identities are created for remote onboarding, bypassing KYC checks, or creating a fake address to process a fraudulent transaction. Synthetic Identity fraud can be harder to detect than standard identity fraud because it contains real ID documents. Synthetic ID theft may be hard to explain to government officials. In case you ever fall victim to synthetic id theft:
- Prove your identity by using your thumb impression or fingerprints
- Use behavior analysis to prove it is you.
- Use an ID verifying platform like Idenfo Direct for yourself as well as for your KYC needs.
According to the 2021 Future of Fraud Forecast, synthetic ID fraud or synthetic identity theft is the fastest-growing type of financial crime. It accounts for 80% of credit card fraud losses, and nearly 20% of chargebacks, needless to mention other forms of losses a person or business may encounter.
- Turn on notifications for websites and apps that have your credit information saved.
- Check emails regularly and provide accessible email addresses whenever asked.
- Safely dispose of all those papers that have your personal information on them. Using a paper shredder is ideal.
Secure your identity by signing up for idenfo direct so you have a legitimate source of support whenever necessary.
Criminal Identity Theft
Criminal identity theft is the worst kind of all ID thefts. If the unfortunate situation ever arises, here is how you can disentangle it without compromising your credibility
- Do not give out your ID card copy to anyone you do not know. If you need to give out a copy of your ID document, make sure you cross it out and sign it so it is clear that you have given it out with consent and for a certain use after which it will either be returned to you, stored in official records or destroyed.
- Be honest with the police and other government officials about yourself.
- Destroy private records and statements
- Secure your mail.
- Safeguard your ID documents and bank details. …
- Dispose of/ destroy your papers with care.
- Keep more than one credit cards if necessary if your credit card is used by one or more family members
- Know who you’re dealing with. Read about the importance of KYC in business today
Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) identity theft
- Don’t give out scanned or physical copies of ID documents if you do not know a person.
- Sometimes people forget to delete files or log out of public computers. If you ever visit a public café, double check if you have left any traces to your personal documents.
The above mentioned forms of frauds could lead to major loss for families and business alike. With Idenfo Direct, individuals and organizations can sign up, go through the KYC and screening process, the multi-layered approach ensures the data being provided is legitimate, preventing the risk of fraudulent activities upfront while proving to be a great help if the identity or the background ever needs to be proven to the police, medical or asset management institutions.
