Our identities are for sale.
There is seemingly no protection for people who normally use credit cards, computers, driver's licences and bank accounts— the accoutrements of daily life.
If a thief can grab a purse, as happened last year to a Coquitlam family, hack a computer or make a phone call, as happened to a Tri-City senior recently, all manner of banking and credit card problems can arise, and not just immediately but months after the original crime.
That's because personal information can be used over and over and in creative ways to steal money, make fraudulent purchases, take control of existing accounts or open new ones.
When combined with social media fraud, where thieves befriend people or get access to public Facebook accounts to glean private details, even more criminal behaviour can occur.
It seems we are helpless to prevent it and, thus, identity fraud is just another downside of modern society, with victims responsible for remedying the damage, although banks, online stores and credit card companies are adopting new security measures and are generally good at reimbursing lost funds.
Still, it's up to everyone to stay on top of the problem, to avoid sharing private information and account numbers to people over the phone phone, to change passwords regularly, to monitor accounts and keep a diary of issues and contact credit bureaus if there's a problem.
Not taking these actions leaves people exposed and the damage can be far reaching and long-lasting, and include the loss of credit and other issues.
For Coquitlam's Gajdosik family, whose story was reported in last Friday's Tri-City News, the problem lasted for a year and arose from something as simple and random as a break-in. It used to be that thieves wanted small valuables; now, a name, a credit card and driver's licence are enough to create havoc.
But there may be some good news on the horizon; the latest report from Javelin Strategy and Research, which tracks identify theft, states here has been a slight decrease in the number of identity fraud victims, although thieves are getting more creative and sophisticated all the time.
The only thing to do is to be vigilant with all personal ID and information.
