News and Views
Could you be the target of Identity Theft?

Identity theft refers to the practice of assuming an individuals identity for the purposes of gaining access to their finances or to make fraudulent applications for loans or credit cards. It is becoming a much more common problem for two reasons, firstly, the proliferation of personal finance in recent years has resulted in more and more people having multiple bank accounts and credit cards and secondly, the advent of electronic and telephone banking has made it easier for a fraudster to impersonate their victim.

Identity theft is generally carried out with some careful, although simple, preparation.

Here are our top five tips to avoid being targeted by a fraudster.

Always dispose of bank statements, credit card statements or invoices with your signature on them carefully. If possible shred the documents. The most common way for fraudsters to obtain the information that they need is to obtain is from discarded material.
Always check your bank or credit card statements for unusual items. Fraudsters will commonly ëtest the waterí by trying a small transaction before they instigate the main fraud.
If suspicious you can check your credit record with firms such as Experian or Equifax who will reveal any bogus credit or loan applications in your name.
Cancel any unwanted credit cards. In addition keep your credit limits down to the minimum that you require. Credit card companies will usually give you an overly generous limit without prompting, however, do you really need it?
Never disclose any personal financial information to anyone without evidence of his or her identity. A common trick for fraudsters is to telephone pretending to be your bank and asking for information such as your password.

Never give any financial information away unless you are sure of the identity of the recipient. You can be assured that CFS fiercely protects the confidentiality of your information and will never disclose any details unless specifically authorised by you.