Someone stole my Identity and withdrew a Personal Loan on my behalf!…

Newly married happy couple…

One fine day Kabeer was surprised to find some letters from ABC Bank in his letter box, marked to his newly wed housewife Meera. He asked Meera, since when did she start banking with ABC Bank to which she denied. And giggled at him by asking what’s wrong with him??

Both of them were stunned into silence and filled with tons of anger to know that it was a reminder letter for paying her first monthly instalment for a Personal loan. On contacting ABC Bank, they confirmed that Meera had indeed applied for a Personal loan using her ABC Bank’s current account…

How it unfolded?…

Well, this is a very common story (or modus of operandi) where a fraudster applies for a loan on your behalf using your identity (Passport copy, Photo, Aadhar card etc.). All these kind of personal documents are good enough for someone to assume your identity and apply for loan, account opening, SIM card etc. the list goes on…

There are various ways by which fraudsters can access this personal information viz., from a Cyber cafe or from a shop where you Photocopy or Print your personal documents without having a clue that some bad guy is sharing your information with someone committing the actual Cyber Crime. Another common place from where this information is available is your letter box or trash bin. Once you are away on holidays or long vacation (in case with Meera & Kabeer) it’s relatively easy for a bad guy to access your letter box and commit this crime. Most often we forget to shred sensitive documents before throwing into our bins. There are crooks who go through the trash and look for gold i.e., your sensitive personal data.

What do i do then?… Little bit of Vigilance!

You got to be very careful while handling and disposing your personal data. Buy a paper shredder to trash sensitive documents. When you go out either to photocopy or print or scan your personal documents, make sure that the shop assistant deletes your data that you give it to them via a USB stick. Avoid sending data via Email or Whatsapp where there is no guarantee of deletion.

Even if all this happens to you by misfortune don’t hide out of embarrassment and should immediately contact your Bank and local Cyber Cell.