Australians increasingly exposed to identity theft

According to a recent study conducted by Veda, fraudulent credit applications involving identity theft have soared 59% since 2013 in Australia alone.

Criminals can assume your identity in a variety of ways, from simple means like stealing mail or rummaging through garbage for bank statements. Or with more sophisticated measures such as skimming debit cards at ATMs or hacking computers and even mobile phones.

According to Veda, one in four Australians have been victims of identity theft. Yet people often only become aware their identity has been stolen when they check bank statements and discover unfamiliar or unauthorised transactions.

While the Veda report shows that 54% of Australians are concerned about identify theft, less than half (44%) of us regularly change our online passwords. Only around 60% of us shop on secure web sites (as indicated by https) when transacting online. One in three (32%) people publish their full date of birth on social media profiles even though this is a key piece of information used to verify a persons identity.