Every Year Thousands of Seniors are Victims of Identity Theft

Did you know that in 2012, 1 in 4 Canadians will be impacted by some form of identity theft. Identity theft involves someone accessing your personal information such as banking, credit card, drivers license or SIN card number and using that information to impersonate you. 

Last week I heard Anna Hill from Legal Shield speak about the risk of identity theft and in particular how vulnerable seniors are to this crime. 

When we think of identity theft we all think about our bank card or credit card being stolen or compromised. I know this has happened to me. Overall it is usually a minor inconvenience - the bank replaces your card and covers the charges. 

But I have never really thought about my health card, SIN or drivers license being compromised. The criminals do not need to actually steal your card they just need access to your valid card number and your address. Your drivers license number can be sold and used to create a license for someone else. You may not know your identity has been compromised until you get a traffic ticket in the mail or worse a court date for a criminal charge such as drunk driving. Now you will need to prove that it wasn’t you! 

Seniors are more vulnerable to identity theft for a number of reasons: often seniors rely on others to assist them in their day to day activities; seniors may not check their bank or credit card statements; seniors may be more trusting of people and may fall victim to phone or Internet scams. Even after someone passes away their identity may be used by criminals. 

Here are some tips that Anna recommended to protect the seniors in our lives:

• avoid on-line banking and continue to bank in person  
• freeze credit (this means new accounts cannot be opened in their name)
• opt out of junk mail
• purchase a shredder and shred all documents with personal information 
• and finally, keep informed about scams (mail, phone, door to door, Internet, etc.)

Anna’s advice for everyone else - regularly change your PIN number and passwords!

Find out more about identity theft  here.