Identity Theft and the Elderly

The theft of your elderly loved one’s identity can result in substantial financial losses and unnecessary stress. Identity fraud occurs when an imposter steals confidential information such as credit card and bank account details. Once this information is obtained a fraudster can obtain credit, services or goods in the name of your loved one. This year in the UK, Experian (the leading global information services company) reported a rise of nearly 2% in the first six months of 2015 - compared to the previous year - in fraudsters targeting elderly people, particularly men.

“Fraudsters are widening their net and we are seeing a growing number of cases involving older members of society. Older individuals in this category often have a good credit rating and have lived at the same address for a long time,” according to Nick Mothershaw, UK & Ireland Director of Identity and Fraud at Experian. “It is important that everyone, regardless of age, takes measures to ensure their details remain their own, because fraudsters will easily find those who don’t,” he concluded.

In order to prevent identity theft your elderly loved one needs to be wary of websites and e-mails requesting personal information, such as confirmation of their date of birth. This information can then be used by criminals to apply for new financial products in the victim’s name. The following steps can help protect you and your ageing loved ones against identity loss:

• Update online security. Install a virus-protection, anti-spyware and firewall software on computers or laptops. Only visit trusted websites and regularly change unique passwords for your computer and any online accounts.

• Secure personal documents. Store sensitive personal and financial records in a safe, locked place.

• Use a shredder. For any confidential correspondence being thrown away, ensure documents are shredded.

• Be wary of requests for personal information. Don’t reveal financial, medical or insurance information by phone or e-mail unless you initiated the contact, or can verify the person or organisation you are talking to.

• Regularly monitor and review credit card and bank statements. If there is unauthorised activity on any of your accounts, consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze on your credit report.

• Take care on social networking sites. Don’t provide too much information on social media e.g. Facebook, Twitter such as pets’ names or grandchildren’s names that could be used as passwords.

• Ensure you are registered to vote at your current address. If you aren’t, fraudsters could use your previous address details to open new credit accounts, and run up debts in your name.

• Always use secure, unique passwords. If possible try to have a unique password for each type of service provider such as financial services, retail services and e-mail. 

• Don’t store account names and passwords on your smartphone. It will be easy for fraudsters to use the personal information if the phone is lost or stolen. 
  
  

Many countries now offer specific criminal activity resources to help with detection of the crime all the way through to prosecution.

What additional steps do you recommend to prevent identity theft?