Identity theft is when someone uses your personal information without your permission — to commit fraud, get financial services, access your accounts, or pass themselves off as you. That can mean your name, address, date of birth, identity documents, banking details, login details, or contact information. Fraudsters often build this up gradually, combining details from more than one source until they have enough to impersonate you convincingly.
Why your identity is valuable
With enough of your information, a fraudster can open accounts, get into your existing ones, pass security checks, and use your identity to run other scams. Fraudsters increasingly treat identity information as something to sell, trade, or reuse — and the impact can go well beyond a single financial loss.
How it happens
Information gets taken through phishing scams, data breaches, fake websites, social engineering, stolen mail, information you've made public, and remote access scams. Criminals increasingly stitch together details from more than one source — something from social media combined with something from elsewhere.
What it can look like
You get correspondence about an account you never opened. A lender contacts you about a product you never applied for. Verification requests start appearing that you didn't trigger. In some cases, you only find out once a fair amount of activity has already happened.
Why this works
A lot of identity verification still relies on information that can, in principle, be found, stolen, or bought. Fraudsters exploit that by gathering as much as they can before attempting to impersonate you — and they're often prepared to do it over weeks or months.
How to reduce your risk
Think carefully about what you share publicly, protect your identity documents, be cautious of requests for personal information, check who's asking and why before you provide it, and review your accounts regularly for anything unfamiliar.
If your identity may have been compromised
- Secure your important accounts
- Review your recent activity
- Change your passwords where needed
- Keep evidence of what's happened
- Report your concerns to the relevant providers and authorities
Acting early limits how far it can go.
Key takeaway
Identity theft often starts long before any money is lost. Protecting your personal information is one of the most effective things you can do.
Concerned your identity may have been misused? When you contact us, use our Help Centre.