How to recognise and protect yourself from ID theft

At viva.com, your safety is always our top priority and therefore, we feel obliged to instruct you on the new types of online fraud currently used by scammers. We would like you to carefully go through the instructions below, in order to protect yourself from cybercriminals, who may try to steal your personally identifiable information.

What is ID theft?

Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personally identifiable information (e.g., name, credit card number, social security number, driving license number, etc.) for fraudulent purposes.

Fraudsters can make use of your personal information in many ways. The purpose of ID theft could be opening a credit account or a bank account and then writing fake cheques or obtaining loans.
Alternatively, cybercriminals can use your ID information to hijack your email account or take over your insurance policies. Some of them will also look to sell your information to other fraudsters.

Some of the common stealing methods used by attackers are e-mail (Phishing), voice call (Vishing) and SMS (Smishing) fraud. Yet, malicious actors can perform ID theft just by using information openly available on the internet or by taking advantage of unsecure Wi-Fi networks.

How to recognise ID theft

In a characteristic instance of ID theft, the cyberscammer posts a job ad on social media channels. You submit your application (CV, cover letter, etc.) and your personal information (passport or ID).

Then, the cyberscammer uses your personal details together with their photo to forge a new piece of identity. Afterwards, he/she goes to a bank and uses the fake ID to open an account, which in turn will use to carry out illicit transactions.

How to protect yourself against ID theft

• Verify all requests for personal data.
• Limit the amount of personal information you share online (e.g. Social media).
• Regularly monitor your online banking activities and credit card statements.
• Do not open attached files or links included in suspicious emails, especially when you are being asked to provide your online account credentials in order to ‘’unlock’’ your account, or for a third party to ‘’investigate’’ a technical issue or any other instance that ‘’demands’’ you take ‘’urgent’’ action.
• If you think you’ve fallen victim to ID theft, come to contact with us and also collect all possible evidence to report the incident to the authorities.