5 ways to guard against identity theft

Having your identity stolen can be an expensive and traumatic experience.

Sadly, it’s impossible to completely eliminate the risk of identity theft. But you can minimise it by following these five steps from Equifax:

1. Put a security freeze on your credit file – this stops fraudsters taking out loans in your name (because you’d need to unfreeze the file before loans could be issued).
2. Check your credit report – you’re entitled to a free copy of your credit report each year. Get one, and then check for suspicious activity.
3. Check your bank statements – again, look for suspicious activity.
4. Guard against mail theft – lock your mailbox so fraudsters can’t steal sensitive documents.
5. Be vigilant when online – don’t share or reuse passwords. Don’t respond to ‘phishing’ emails.