What is identity theft?

Your identity can be stolen in a number of ways including:

Fake websites: These will ask for ‘confirmation’ of your security details, or prompt you to enter personal information. When you supply your details, they are fed back to a criminal to use fraudulently.

Phishing: Phishing is the use of authentic-looking but fake emails, often claiming to be from trustworthy organisations, such as banks or tax authorities, e.g. HMRC. It is a form of social engineering, designed to convince you to respond and reveal sensitive information.

While the emails may look genuine, their purpose is usually to convince you to click on a link through to a fake website, which also looks convincingly like the real thing. Some phishing emails contain attachments which may contain data-stealing viruses.

Once you’ve opened or downloaded these attachments, it can unleash malicious software (or malware) onto your system, causing damage or capturing information to send back to the person behind the attack.

Other: Identify theft can also happen through phone calls, texts, tweets or other communication methods as well as more traditional methods of raiding dustbins or stealing your mail.