Don't get stung!

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

It’s often too late by the time you find out you’ve been a victim of identity theft, making it important for people to protect themselves and their personal information, says Wolfville RCMP Cst. Justin Kennedy.

Kennedy, along with employees of the Securit information management and document destruction company, was at the Wolfville Farmers Market Oct. 18 providing information on identity theft as well as a free document shredding service.

Identity theft, by which an individual’s personal information, including credit card and PIN numbers, is stolen and used to make illegal purchases or other transactions without the person’s knowledge, is “a growing problem,” both in Nova Scotia and worldwide.

“Today,” Kennedy says, “with the increased use of debit machines, debit cards and making purchases online, it’s becoming a lot more common than in the past.”

‘It can ruin your life’

Police take incidents of identity theft very seriously, Kenedy says. “It can ruin your life, but unfortunately, by the time you find out your personal information has been stolen or by the time we become involved, it’s often too late.”

Most banks with debit machines now have devices installed to prevent ‘debit skimming’, whereby someone ‘rigs’ the machine to steal PIN numbers. Most credit card companies offer monitoring services available “to track your purchases and let you know of anything unusual,” but these services come with user fees attached.

The best and most effective method of preventing identity theft is to be diligent in not

giving personal information to strangers, protect your PIN number at all times, and carefully monitor credit card statements to ensure there are no unusual transactions.

“Down the road, it could save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars.”

Shred personal documents

As well, Kennedy says, all personal documents, including bank statements, credit card statements or anything containing your address or other personal information, “should be shredded, either personally or professionally, rather than put in the regular garbage.

“There are companies,” like Securit, for example, “who will do this for you for free,” often onsite at events like the one in Wolfville.

Asked if there is anything that can be done to prevent identity theft, Kennedy said that as long as there are credit cards, debit cards and computers, it’s likely with us to stay.

“It comes down to the individual person,” he said, and a lot of it is common sense. “We can do preventative measures, but people need to learn to take the initiative and monitor their personal documents and, if they see anything wrong, contact their bank or credit card company, and also the nearest police.”