Today, there is more to us that just a name, a face and a personality. As we go through life, it not just people we meet that get to know who we are, but also financial institutions who you deal with. Think about how many financial or personal documents you have: Utility bills, passports, credit cards, bank statements and driving licences †these can in certain respects determine who we are, and are valuable in they fall into the wrong hands. CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service defines identity theft as: "â€the misappropriation of the identity (such as the name, date, of birth, current address or previous address) of another person without their knowledge or consent. These identity details are then used to obtain goods and services in that persons name" Recent trends have shown that there is now a huge increase in the cases of identity theft. The insurer Liverpool Victoria predicts that the number of homeowners being burgled specifically for their personal documents is set to soar in the next five years. In 2008, 1 in 7 burglaries were carried out for the sole purpose of identity theft, with three quarters of burglary victims having some or all of the documents listed stolen. Individual documents can change hands for around 15 on the black market, with â€bundles’ reaching up to 150. According to Police statistics, in 2008 there were 278,000 burglaries. 25% of these resulted in some form of identity theft †that is a staggering 71,750 victims. Also, figures show that 94% of handbags, wallets and purses contain at least one form of personal identity. In research conducted by Lloyds TSB: 76% of adults are concerned about identity theft 52% of those concerned about identity theft believe the recession has increased the risk 57% of people believe that social networking sites have made it easier to steal personal details So how can you minimize the risk of identity theft? A convicted fraudster said: "so many people make my job easy by sticking all the key documents together in one place. And for all the family too, so you often get three of four identities for the price of one..." You can never be totally sure that your documents are safe, however you should ensure your home has adequate security measures. Also, with the huge advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, you should be very selective about what information you share on such sites.
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