Identity theft
Someone uses your personal details to open accounts or borrow in your name.
What it is
Identity theft is when a criminal collects enough of your personal information — name, date of birth, address, ID or card numbers — to impersonate you. They may open credit cards, take out loans, file tax refunds, or claim benefits in your name, leaving you to untangle the damage.
How it happens
The pieces are gathered from many sources: data breaches, phishing, stolen mail, oversharing on social media, or public records. Individually, each detail seems harmless; combined, they are enough to pass an identity check. Attackers often buy ready-made profiles from data brokers or breach dumps to speed this up.
Warning signs
- Bills, cards, or account statements arrive for things you never opened.
- Unexpected charges, or being turned down for credit for no reason you know.
- Letters from debt collectors or tax offices about accounts that aren't yours.
- Alerts that your details appeared in a data breach.
Who it targets
Anyone with a financial or official record is a target — but children and the recently deceased are hit surprisingly often, because the fraud can go unnoticed for years. People whose data appears in breaches, and those who share a lot publicly, face the highest risk.
How to protect yourself
- Use unique passwords and two-factor authentication so one breach can't unlock everything.
- Check haveibeenpwned.com to see which breaches include your details, and act on them.
- Share less publicly — birth dates, addresses, and family names are building blocks for fraud.
- Consider a credit freeze so no one can open accounts in your name.
- Shred paper documents with personal or financial information before discarding them.
If it happens to you
- Contact the affected banks and companies at once to freeze accounts and dispute fraudulent activity.
- Place a fraud alert or credit freeze with the credit agencies in your country.
- Report the theft to your national identity-theft or fraud service and keep the reference number.
- Change passwords and enable two-factor authentication on your key accounts, starting with email.