Identity theft is proving to be the new wave of crime, and the worst part of it is – it hits twice, once when the initial fraud takes place, and secondly when the victim’s credit rating – their good name, is tarnished, leaving them unable to take out credit for up to 5 years.
Cyber-crime is now such a serious global threat – to individuals, businesses and governments that nations will continue to join together in its fight.
Discussions on cyber-crime are being held in Sydney later this week with Attorneys-General from Australia, the U.S. and their counterparts in the U.K., Canada and New Zealand attending.
The ‘Quintet’ as it is termed, will meet 14-15 July, and will focus on joint and cooperative actions that can be taken to address the growth of international cyber threats. This is the first time the U.S. Attorney General has been to Australia in several decades.
Australian Attorney-General, Robert McLelland says fighting cyber-crime is a global task.
“It is a complex policy and law enforcement challenge because of its transnational nature and use of rapidly evolving technology.
“The global nature of cyber crime is such that no nation alone can effectively combat the problem, making international cooperation and engagement essential components of an effective response.”
“That’s why renewed international vigilance is such a priority for all five countries,” he says.
This meeting also follows the recent introduction into Australian parliament of the Cyber-crime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011. Swift changes to Australia’s laws were made late last month, in order to bring them in to line with the other 40 countries which have joined the European Convention on Cybercrime.
Increased episodes of cyber-attacks and cyber espionage have sparked these changes, and have prompted many countries to increase their vigilance in what has now been termed a ‘war’ against cyber-crime.
“In the last six months alone, Australia’s Computer Emergency Response Team has alerted Australian business to more than a quarter of a million pieces of stolen information such as passwords and account details, allowing them to rectify and protect against potential attacks,” Mr McLelland said when announcing the new legislation in June.
Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the country, according to the Australian Crime Commission. In addition, an identity theft survey released by the Government last week showed that 1 in 6 people have been a victim, or know somebody who has been a victim of identity theft or misuse in the past six months. The majority of identity theft or misuse
occurred over the Internet (58 per cent), or through the loss of a credit or debit card (30 per cent). Stolen identify information was primarily used to purchase goods or services (55 per cent) or to obtain finance, credit or a loan (26 per cent).
Those are frightening statistics for ordinary individuals who are trying to navigate the cyber-world. To know governments are running up hill trying to catch these crooks and prevent cyber-attacks in their own offices – leaves little hope for those who may not be so computer savvy in trying to protect themselves against identity theft.
The problem with identity theft is, often it goes undetected until people go to apply for credit and are flatly refused due to blemishes on their credit file they did not initiate. Unfortunately when a creditor places a default on a person’s credit file, it remains there for 5 years, greatly hindering someone’s chances of obtaining further credit. Some are even unable to take out a mobile phone plan.
Keeping identity theft at bay online
Education and action are the winning combinations in preventing cyber-crime at home and its corresponding evils – identity theft, identity fraud and credit file destruction.
Here are some quick tips to help people protect themselves and their credit rating:
1. Keep virus software up to date. Install automatic updates and perform
regular virus scans.
2. Keep privacy settings secure on all social networking sites.
3. Change passwords regularly and use a variety of passwords for different purposes.
4. Check all credit card and bank statements each time they come in.
5. Do not give over personal information or credit card details online unless the site is secure, and company details can be verified.
6. Be aware of who gets our personal information and for what purposes. What can these people do with the information they are gathering? For instance, is it really necessary for the site we are registering on to have our date of birth?
7. Visit the government’s stay smart online website, and sign up for alerts.
8. Check our credit file for free every 12 months. By requesting a copy of our
credit file from one or more of the major credit reporting agencies,Veda Advantage, Dun & Bradstreet and Tasmanian Collection Service (TASCOL) we can be aware of any discrepancies which may need to be investigated. Often it is only through a credit check which comes back with defaults on our credit file do we realise we have been victims of identity theft.
9. Report any incident of identity theft, no matter how small, or even if we have been reimbursed for the damage – to the Police. The more of us who report identity theft, the more effective will be our Government and Police response to it in the future.
For people who are already identity theft victims, it can be difficult to navigate the current credit reporting system to have the offending defaults removed from their credit file.
MyCRA Credit Repairs can completely remove defaults from credit files that have errors, are unjust or just shouldn’t be there.
Visit MyCRA for more help with credit rating repair following identity theft.
Image: jscreationz / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
