Sadly, id theft is on the rise in Canada. In 2023, over 11,000 instances of ID fraud have been reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). Fraud crimes are vastly underreported, so the full is probably going a lot larger.
Id theft is not simply somebody combing by means of your paper mail for private data. That also occurs, however what’s extra possible now could be that your data is being stolen on-line by means of hacking or a phishing rip-off, the place you’re unknowingly giving a scammer private data. Right here’s what that you must know—plus learn how to stop additional ID theft.
What’s id theft?
Id theft is when criminals steal your private or monetary data, like your social insurance coverage quantity (SIN), bank card quantity or checking account data, and use it to open new bank cards, apply for presidency advantages, make purchases, or entry your financial institution accounts and steal funds.
Beforehand, id thieves operated primarily by stealing envelopes from mailboxes and going by means of recycling bins to search out delicate paperwork. However criminals have expanded deep into the digital world. They typically use synthetic intelligence (AI) to focus on lots of or 1000’s of individuals on the identical time, impersonating a authorities or financial institution official utilizing telephone calls, texts or emails to “phish” for private data. Scammers additionally use subtle digital instruments to hack accounts over public Wi-Fi, that means they will acquire entry to your financial institution accounts and extra. Anybody could be a goal of id theft.
How you can report id theft in Canada
For those who suspect your id has been stolen, don’t look ahead to verification—report the crime to your native police. For those who consider your SIN has been stolen, report this to Service Canada by calling 1-866-274-6627. You also needs to contact the CAFC so it could actually compile statistics on how prevalent this downside is. Fill out data on-line within the Fraud Reporting System or contact the CAFC at 1-888-495-8501.
Then that you must contact the Canadian credit score bureaus, together with Equifax, to allow them to flag your file and notify you if anybody tries to open a bank card or take out a mortgage in your identify. Additionally pay shut consideration to your credit score scores and credit score reviews, additionally out there by means of Equifax, for indicators of suspicious exercise.
sponsored
Equifax Full Safety
Equifax Full Safety is a credit score and cybersecurity safety service designed to assist Canadians spot the indicators of id fraud sooner.
- Gives each day credit score monitoring and alerts
- Scans on your private knowledge on the darkish net
- Social media monitoring by trade chief ZeroFox
Subscription worth: $34.95 monthly
It’s confirmed, your id has been stolen—now what?
As soon as your id has been stolen, you’re more likely to be focused once more. When scammers steal somebody’s id, they typically promote the information to a 3rd get together, who will attempt to contact the sufferer—they’re now seen as a simple goal for different crimes.
Chances are you’ll end up on the receiving finish of extra phishing scams from unsolicited numbers or pretend financial institution staff. Plus, when you place protecting measures at your banks and credit score bureau, it might be more durable so that you can open a brand new account—you could have to undergo a number of verification checks. If the thief hurts your credit score rating by opening and utilizing bank cards, then it might even be difficult so that you can open new bank cards and apply for loans. And this could have an effect on your monetary life for a really very long time—probably years.
