1 — What it is
Identity theft is the unauthorised use of your personal data (name, tax code, document number, bank account) to open accounts, take out loans, make purchases or impersonate you online.
Unlike a single cloned card, identity theft can remain active for months without you noticing — and damage piles up before detection.
Defence has two layers: prevention (reduce data exposure) and monitoring (notice quickly if something is wrong).
2 — Why it matters
- Loans and bank accounts opened in your name that you only discover when a payment reminder arrives
- Credit score ruined through no fault of yours, later making it harder to get a mortgage
- Deep-fake and identity cloning on social media damaging your professional reputation
- Tax fraud in your name that triggers revenue authority inspections
- Phone number theft via SIM-swap which lets attackers bypass SMS-based 2FA
- Re-issuance of documents and new passwords for every compromised service, often for months
3 — When to apply it
- Always — as an ongoing habit, not as a reaction to a single event
- After a data breach of a service you are registered with
- After losing or having a document stolen
- If you notice suspicious transactions, emails or SMS
- When an authority asks you to confirm operations you did not perform
4 — Procedure
- 1Use a password manager with unique, long passwords for every service. Password reuse is the first cause of identity theft.
- 2Enable 2FA (two-factor authentication) on all critical accounts: email, online banking, cloud services, social. Prefer an authenticator app over SMS.
- 3Consider a preventive credit freeze with credit bureaus if you are not planning new loans: it blocks new accounts being opened in your name.
- 4Share the minimum necessary. Avoid publishing tax code, date of birth, document number or home address online.
- 5Review your credit file and bureau position periodically — once a year is enough.
- 6Set transaction alerts on your bank and cards, even for small amounts.
- 7Distrust emails and SMS that ask you to click links or confirm actions urgently — contact the institution directly to verify.
- 8Protect your phone number: set a carrier PIN against SIM-swap attacks.
- 9If fraud has already happened: file a police report, block everything, notify credit bureaus of ongoing fraud.
5 — Checklist
- Password manager installed and configured
- 2FA enabled on main email, online banking, cloud
- Anti-SIM-swap PIN set with your phone carrier
- Transaction alerts active on all cards
- Preventive credit freeze evaluated (or activated)
- Annual check of credit bureau positions
- Personal data removed from public social media where not needed
- Response plan ready: who to call and what to block if an incident occurs
6 — Documents involved
- Inventory of critical accounts with protection level
- Backup copies of 2FA recovery codes in a secure place
- Recent bank statements and credit reports
- List of credit bureaus and your current status
- Copy of police report (if fraud has already occurred)
- Log of data breach notifications received