Who is affected by identity theft?

Anyone can be affected by identity theft, and age, sex, circumstance and location are no barrier to this crime, in fact even deceased people can fall victim to a type of identity theft crime called ‘jackal theft’, which is when thieves get hold of copies of the birth certificates and other key documents relating to a deceased person then uses it to carry out a number of unlawful activities such as fraudulently applying for credit accounts in their names.  Young children can also fall victim to identity theft crimes, with their details being stolen in order to set up false credit accounts and there have even been cases of desperate parents using their children’s details to apply for utilities at their homes, due to their own bad debts making them ineligible for any new accounts. Some ways to protect yourself would be to choose an id theft protection company.

People who live in shared and rented accommodation are statistically more vulnerable to identity theft than those that own their homes, as this type of accommodation is less likely to have a sufficient level of onsite security against opportunistic thieves such as burglar alarm systems and restricted access to the back of the property, and it is also more likely in shared accommodation for windows and doors being left open providing access points for thieves.  Also the mail in shared accommodation often gets delivered in bulk to a main hallway, rather than being delivered to each individual flat/room, and this means that more people have access to your personal mail making it more vulnerable to theft.  People in rented accommodation are also more likely to move around a lot more, and often forget to forward on their mail, so this means that important documents are still received at their old addresses, which can be then intercepted by identity thieves.