Jane Thrall

A few years back I was the victim of identity fraud . Someone applied for a credit card in my name and the bank — not mine — issued the card . The credit reporting agency , meant to protect the public and lenders from this sort of fraud , had dropped the ball ; the application didn ’ t have the correct birthdate and the signature wasn ’ t even close .

Fortunately , I discovered that the card had been issued and notified the bank . Despite my efforts , the criminals managed to charge $ 50,000 to the account before the card was terminated . The bank sent it to collection and the collection agency hounded me for two years before I convinced them that they weren ’ t going to see a penny from me . It was a terrible ordeal .

Aisha Kitchlew , Senior Manager in Fraud and Cybercrime for ATB , says , “ The best defence against a fraud incident is education — understanding and knowing what you are up against will allow you to consider what controls are best suited for you or your business .”

The terms “ identity theft ” and “ identity fraud ” are often used interchangeably . While identity theft is the act of obtaining a person ’ s personal information , fraud is the crime of using that information to obtain goods or services . Identity fraud is on the rise in Canada , doubling over the past five years alone .

The most common form of identity theft is credit card cloning . This is often done through skimming , either by someone unknowingly inserting the card into a skimming device that ’ s been attached to a legitimate machine ( at an ATM or gas pump , for example ) or by a nefarious employee who skims the card while it ’ s out of sight .

Another way that personal information can be gleaned is through phishing or the use of malware . Criminals will send an email requesting personal information in order to claim a prize or verify a purchase . Most email programs will identify these as scams , but a person has to be very cautious of any request to send information to a business , even if it ’ s one that they deal with regularly . If the email looks suspicious , it ’ s best to contact the company directly to verify .

Aisha says that you should never give your Social Insurance Number ( SIN ) to anyone over

Rate of identity thefts in Canada from 2010 to 2019 ( per 100,000 residents )

12.46

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

46 | arta . net

Source : StatCan , Oct . 24 , 2020 , statcan . gc . ca