| The Internet is still a lawless, unregulated and dangerous place for Those careless enough to give away personal information to elements who wouldn’t think twice about using it to fleece you. The net is infested with e-crime, rogue operators and shysters. Anyone who has had the distressing experience of dealing with the fake malware program, Anti-Virus Live 2010, which locks you out of your computer and asks on average £30 to eliminate fake viruses, can bear witness to that. According to Rik Ferguson, Senior Security Advisor at Trend Micro, such cases now number in the millions.and yet most people choose not to report it; they feel a bit odd going to the police station and saying, 'My computer has a virus." But this is a growing area of e-crime, and cyber criminals can make up to £200 million a year according to McAfee. But did you know there is an even more vicious way to fall victim of e-crime? By being completely unaware of it.
As a victim of identity theft, you are utterly oblivious to it until the shocking moment that first credit repayment request from the bank leaves you speechless with horror. Your mind reels as you struggle in vain to recall the actual scene of the crime. Could it have been that website where you left your details? Or a bank or post-office ridden with internal fraud? It’s simply impossible to know. The sense of confusion as to where to report the incident is even bigger, leading many victims to despair when seeking help.
How to report e-crime
e-Crime is no different to any other crime committed within the UK and should be reported by calling the police station from your borough http://www.met.police.uk/local/They should give you a report number.The authorities are often unable to help, a report may be necessary to help convince creditors/lenders that someone else has opened an account or applied for credit cards in your name. Also you should protect your name and personal details from being use fraudulently with CIFAS is a not-for-profit membership association, is dedicated to the prevention of fraud, including staff fraud, and the identification of financial crime.
CIFAS Members will undertake additional checks to ascertain that the applicant is genuine and not a fraudster trying to use your details to commit identity theft. The registration fee £14.40 including VAT. here dowload the form for information go to the website http://www.cifas.org.uk
Next Step Notice of Correction
Your next port of call should be one of the three credit reference agencies, Callcredit, Equifax or Experian, whom you can inform that you have been a victim of identity fraud, and from where you can immediately obtain a credit report. CallCredit, Equifax and Experian all offer free online credit reports – but only for 30 day trials. You can save money and access your credit files for no charge – but remember to cancel your membership once the trial period ends.
Add a password to your file
Once you have informed the credit referencing agencies that you have been a victim of identity fraud you need to add a Notice of Correction to your credit file. Essentially, this is a statement to any potential lender explaining your circumstances in the event of an unfeasibly low credit score. It is also a good idea to have a password assigned to your Notice of Correction to flag to lenders any request for credit in your name by fraudsters. Your statement might go something along the lines of:
Example Notice of Correction
I "________" have reason to believe that my personal details may be used fraudulently in an attempt to obtain credit. I would ask any lenders searching my credit information at Credit Refence Agency to ask for the password "__________ "in order to ascertain the true identity of the applicant.For more information about identity fraud, you should read a report CIFAS on http://www.cifas.org.uk/secure/contentPORT/uploads/documents/CIFAS%20Reports/The_Anonymous_Attacker_CIFAS_Special_Report_Oct_2009.pdf
It goes without saying that you also need to inform your bank! Do not hesitate to send me an e-mail if you have any doubts.Just over 4 million micro businesses exist in the UK – 4,212,925 *This equates to roughly 95% of UK businesses overall.77% of micro businesses rely solely on their PC for the running of their business.60% of micro businesses could not operate successfully without their PC.44% of micro businesses surveyed have been a victim of cyber crime which includeinternet scams, identity fraud, phishing and data theft.Almost a fifth (19%) said they lost revenue as a result of downtime, the average figurecited as £1,540 – which equates to £750 million in estimated losses across the UK micro business population.
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