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We help you safeguard your personal information to prevent this criminal offence against you.
Identity theft is a fast-growing crime in South Africa. TransUnion research found that half of consumers have fallen prey to identity theft or know someone who has. It is often referred to as a silent crime because it often goes undetected for lengthy periods of time before people check in on their finances to find out that something is amiss.
They may only find out when they receive letters of demand of accounts they know nothing about.
This is when an unauthorised person assumes your identity by using your personal details – they do so with the intention of committing fraud or another criminal act.
Hackers look for your personal documents with any information about you printed or electronically discarded by you, which puts you at risk.
They hack onto sites where you have made purchases and can also gather information from your social media pages.
We live in a digital age and a lot of our lives and business are now conducted online. This means we are sharing a lot of information but not seeing where it ends up. Often private information we give is then used in ways to which we did not agree.
Sometimes, if information is used or stored incorrectly, harm can come to us through cybercrimes. People have been known to steal identities and money by stealing our data.
Shopping is also often no longer being done face-to-face, instead companies are using our contact details to market to us in ways that invade our privacy and are sometimes even potentially dangerous.
We have all seen, and most likely skipped over, the tiny writing of terms and conditions where companies deliberately use language that is difficult to understand when stating what they might do with information we share. They might be trying to trick us and POPI will no longer accept this business practice, POPI is on the side of the consumer all the way!
POPI protects our constitutional right to privacy.
If you’re a victim of identity theft, Legal&Tax can assist you by pulling up your credit report to check if there is any incorrect or fraudulent information on there. Get in touch with us for assistance.
Disclaimer: The content of this article was correct at the time of publishing, but the legislation or underlying information forming the basis of this article may have changed. You should always speak to a qualified Legal&Tax advisor before making any decisions.