id theft

[glenis]

i understand the mechanics behind id theft -rifling through your dustbins getting bills with your bank details on etc etc,now forgive me for being thick,but how do they get your money? for example my name is jane doe i live at 123 acacia ave,here is a gas bill a bank statement and a telephone bill to prove that fact ,now i would like to apply for a  loan for 50 grand but please pay it into my other account jane doe who lives at 10 downing st .am i missing something?

[Loosehead]

There are lots of things that they do. Often they are not after your money particularly, they want to use your id to apply for credit cards etc even passports depends what info they get. They could for example pretend to be you, write to the cc companies, utilities etc saying that you have moved. Then they can use the new address to apply for credit and pretend to be you. By the time the mess is sorted out they could have run up debts on credit in your name. That's just the tip of the ice berg. There are for example organised criminals who will buy the stuff that some lowlife picks out of your bin.

I have a shredder, I throw nothing out that identifies me at all, not even just a name, it's the safest way.

[Yinzer]

I think what they do is not request money into their other account, but pretend to be you paying money either for stuff they keep (plane tickets, groceries, or anything bought over the phone or by internet) or paying cash to themselves.
Some even have fancy equipment that can mimic the magnetic strip on your credit card, or create a fake drivers license with your info and their picture. I don't think it'd be very safe to just dump money into their personal bank account, so maybe they launder it through a business?
Think about it, all a person would need is 1 thing, a credit card will get them anything via internet, phone, or in person as long as it is signed on the back. A bank account number means all they have to do is hope the teller doesn't know your face (which is very likely) then just fill out a withdrawal slip. And those computer dorks have ways of hacking into email accounts and other private online matters and finding out your business. With all of the public info sharing a name can get you a phone number, or even an address. An address can get you a full background check, on and on and on.
I just keep myself slovenly and poor so no one will even want to pretend to be me:)

[kags]

We almost had our mortgage endowment policy stolen - a group of thieves found out the details of our policy somehow, then they rang the Endowment company to change the address on the policy (they only ask for your date of birth on the telephone to check if it is the policy holder). They then applied to cash in the policy, but fortunately they were caught by the police before the cheque was issued. The thieves had all our personal details written down, including details of the account the endowment premiums are paid from. These professional thieves have many ways of stealing money from you, often from just a small piece of information, so it is best to be on the safe side and shred papers before you bin them. This at least makes it more difficult for thieves!

[glenis]

thanks to you both for explaining it ,like you loosehead i too have a shredder which i  use  

[Loosehead]

Absolutely glenis, don't give the thieving scum a sniff.

Your Endowment was scary kags, I just wonder wether the assurance company would have compensated you. One hopes they would have looked for Id before actually paying out.

[kags]

Apparantly they were just about to pay out on the Endowment - I guess they would have had to compensate us as they obviously didn't take enough care to check the new address.  But it might have taken me a few months to notice the direct debit had stopped, by which time the thieves would have been well away with the money. I was totally paranoid at the time, but have now lapsed back into compacency again!

[Trillipse]

i had this problem long before it became recently popular :- several (shared) house moves when i lived in london led to info going astray. long story short, wrong people getting hold of my details, �230K went astray. Not ideal. BE VERY VIGILANT!!