5 easy ways to avoid identity theft and protect yourself from identity fraud

Whether you’re savvy about online security and how to look after your finances online and offline, everyone is a target for cyber criminals. Identity theft isn’t just about stealing your name, it’s the process of using details normally associated with you to spend money – often money you don’t already have.

• We’ve put together a list of the best password managers
• These are the best home security systems on the market
• Protect your privacy online with one of the best VPN services

Identity fraud has a sudden impact 

In almost every case, identity theft happens without the victim knowing. It isn’t until occurrences of identity fraud become known that it becomes apparent that something is amiss.

This is a moment you will never forget. The realisation that someone is posing as you, taking out credit cards, applying for loans, and more, leaving you liable for the debt, is sickening.

5 Tricks to Avoid Identity Theft

password manager with lower- and upper-case characters, numbers, and punctuation (where allowed). Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts and keep your passcodes and PINs safe. If you must write them down, lock the cheat sheet away. A password manager like LastPass is the smart option, as only one password needs to be remembered. Two-factor authentication should also be enabled where available.

Meanwhile, ensure all your devices have a password, PIN, or thumbprint access set up. Also, ensure devices have working antivirus software and stay aware of current threats, such as ransomware and phishing.

• Also check out the best password generators

2. Strengthen home security

Losing a credit card or a driving license would be bad enough – losing both would put you in the fast lane to identity fraud.

You can mitigate the risk of important details being stolen by ensuring all old credit cards, letters, bank statements, and other identifiable information is shredded once it is ready to be discarded. Meanwhile, keep things like birth certificates under lock and key.

For shared accommodation, b