Feb 6, 2016
Fifty years ago if you wanted to steal money from someone you had to steal cash. Today money is electronic, so if your identity is stolen you can lose a lot of money very quickly, and that can lead to a mountain of debt.
How big a problem is identity theft and fraud? That's the question we asked today's guest, Kelley Keehn, the author of Protecting You and Your Money: A Guide to Identity Theft and Fraud. She told us that:
A third of Canadians have been victims of some type of fraud. What was more curious is that two thirds of Canadians surveyed said that they knew of someone that was a victim of fraud, so even if it hasn't happened to us yet, a lot of us know someone who was a victim of fraud.
Credit card fraud is a problem, but in most cases your credit card issuer will cover you, so if you fill out a form or prove that you didn't authorize the charges the problem can be solved quickly.
Identity theft is another matter altogether, and it can take many weeks and a lot of effort to restore your name.
So what can you do to protect yourself? On today’s show Kelley gives a lot of practical advice on preventing identity theft and fraud.