March is Fraud Prevention Month and South Bruce Ontario Provincial Police, in conjunction with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), encourages the community to Recognize, Reject and Report Fraud.

Identity theft refers to the preparatory stage of acquiring and collecting someone else's personal information for criminal purposes. Identity Theft can be a result of a person going through another person's garbage and committing mail theft, and to using the internet for more elaborate schemes such as phishing or hacking while criminals acquire personal information. Victims of identity theft experience financial loss, emotional stress and may have trouble obtaining credit.

Identity theft can also occur over the Internet, telephone, via fax or regular mail. You should be particularly cautious of unsolicited e-mails, text messages, telephone calls or mail attempting to extract personal or financial information from you. To protect yourself you should check your credit reports periodically. You should also check bank and credit card statements and report any irregularities promptly to the relevant financial institution and to the credit bureau.

Tips you should remember:

During transactions, if you must hand over your card, never lose sight of it.
Always shield your personal identification number when using an ATM or a PIN pad
Never write your credit card number down on paper
Shred personal and financial documents before putting them in the garbage

Identity Fraud
Identity Fraud is the use by one person of another person's personal information, without authorization, to commit a crime or to deceive or defraud that other person or a third person.

Criminals can use your stolen personal or financial information to:

Access your computer/email
Access your bank accounts
Open new bank accounts
Transfer bank balances
Apply for loans, credit cards and other goods and services
Make purchases
Hide their criminal activities
Obtain passports or receive government benefits

How to Protect Yourself?
Know what identity thieves are looking for and don't share that information.

Identity Thieves are looking for the following information:

Social Insurance Numbers
passport number
date of birth
address
username and password for online services
driver's license number
mother's maiden name
credit card information
bank account numbers
signature

Be aware and protect yourself.

If you think you or someone you know has been a victim of fraud, please contact the Canadian Anti‐Fraud Centre at 1‐888‐495‐8501 or report online at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca.

source: media release, South Bruce OPP