As a student you are in one of the highest-risk groups for being a victim of financial fraud. There are lots of reasons. You’re young and relatively inexperienced with financial matters. You probably live in rented accommodation, with people coming and going whom you don’t know all that well.

When you move from halls to a rented house, or from one rented property to the next, you may not bother to register your change of address with everyone. People you don’t know will move into your accommodation after you, and they will have access to mail that still arrives with your name on it.

The list goes on. You may be careless with documents such as bank statements and utility bills, and leave them lying around your house, or simply chuck them in the bin; because as a student you probably don’t own a shredder. Your dustbins will therefore yield rich pickings for “dumpster diving” thieves. Since you are a student, and statistically more vulnerable than much of the population to crime such as burglary, you are more likely than many to lose your wallet or your laptop computer.

You may use a social networking websites, such as Facebook and mySpace, which many experts believe cause people to disclose too much information about themselves to strangers.

In fact, a recent survey for energy company npower found that up to six million Britons believe they have been victims of ID theft, and that the 18-29 age group are both the main victims and perpetrators.

Another survey, this time by financial information provider Moneyfacts, in conjunction with the University of East Anglia, found that more than 70% of students don’t take sufficient care with destroying used card receipts and old bank statements, almost half allow other people to use their card PIN number, and almost a third use the same PIN for all their bank cards.

As a student, you may think: “Oh, I have nothing worth nicking – they are welcome to my overdraft.” However, ID theft is no joke. It can have serious effects on your ability to get finance in future if you don’t sort it out, and can take many hours to put right.

Why ID theft matters

If someone gets hold of personal information about you, they are able to create a false identity using your name. In the worst cases they will manage to access your financial accounts and plunder your cash. Or they may be able to apply for state benefits and loans, as well as credit and store cards, on which they naturally default, leaving your credit history in tatters. That could mean that you might be unable to get a credit card, graduate loan, mobile phone contract or even a mortgage for many years to come.

How to protect yourself

You can protect yourself in simple ways. To begin with, never throw away bank statements, utility bills or anything with your financial details on it. If you must discard any of these items, shred them.

Beware of using your term-time address for all but the minimum of post. Get your bank statements sent to your parents’ address and forwarded. Don’t apply for special offers or have your phone contract at rented accommodation.

Gemma Haines, a recent graduate from Northumbria University, says: “We had our mail redirected to our house rather than sent to our parents’ addresses – we didn’t want any one else opening our bank statements. I was very careful at keeping my details up to date, but a friend had her ID stolen and someone spent £4,000 in Currys on a credit card in her name. It is a major problem: most weeks we would receive letters addressed to previous tenants.”

Simple steps

• When you get your bank or other credit statement, check it as soon as it arrives for unfamiliar transactions, and, if there is anything untoward, contact the bank or company concerned immediately.
• If you move house, tell your bank, credit card company and all other organisations that you deal with immediately.
• If you stop getting post that you are expecting, check with the local Royal Mail sorting office if a mail redirection order has been set up by a fraudster in your name.
• Never let your credit card or debit card out of your sight when doing transactions, and, when entering your PIN, make sure no one is watching.
• Don’t give out personal information and credit card details to websites, unless you are certain they are secure and belong to well-known organisations. Never disclose financial information on instant messaging services.
• Make sure your computer is secure with up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall. If you use a wireless router, make sure it is secure, with at least WPA encryption. Don’t forget to activate the security settings. You would be surprised at how many people simply take their router out of the box and use the default passwords – which are readily available to third-parties.
• If you are mugged or burgled, always tell the police. If you have any reason at all to think that someone has access to your personal or financial details, contact your bank, building society and card company and take advice on how to prevent unauthorised access to your accounts.

How to check your credit file

If you want to check if the credit facilities against your name, get a copy of your credit file from each of the major credit reference agencies and look for unfamiliar companies that you don’t have relationships with. Write to:

• Equifax plc, Credit File Advice Centre, PO Box 1140, Bradford, BD1 5US;
• Experian Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF;
• Callcredit plc, Consumer Services Team, PO Box 491, Leeds, LS3,

and enclose a cheque for £2 for each.

You can also apply online, but watch out for the more expensive services, some of which have an apparently free introductory offer, but you have to remember to cancel it if you are not to pay for the full service. The statutory £2 paper version should be all you need.

Protective registration

If you think someone could take out credit in your name, it is worth registering with the fraud prevention agency CIFAS (www.cifas.org.uk; 0870 010 2091) for what is known as “protective registration”. It costs £11.75 and means that, if anyone applies for credit in your name, extra checks are taken with the account. You are not prevented from getting credit, but extra security checks on each application are made. It might stop you getting instant credit – but this facility is a dubious benefit anyway, and the loss of it is a small price to pay for your security.

Password and PIN tips

Never give your password or PIN number to anyone. A bank will never ask you for a whole security number or password over the phone or by email, so never give it out if asked to do so, as it is probably a fraud attempt.

For all online transactions use strong passwords, with a mixture of letters and numbers, and, if permitted, a mixture of upper and lower case characters. Avoid using family names or recognisable words or dates of birth as passwords. Use something like the first letter of each word of the title of a song to give a random password.

Use different passwords and codes for different functions and never store passwords or PINs in a diary, wallet or mobile phone memory.

Key findings of the Moneyfacts student survey:

First class honours

• 69% arrange for banking cards to be sent to their family home rather than their shared term-time address
• 63% have a different PIN number for each card
• 72% memorise PIN numbers and then destroy the slip
• 54% never let anyone else use their card.

Miserable fail

• 29% use the same PIN number for all bank cards
• 27% keep a record of their PIN numbers (in a mobile phone or PC; in code in a wallet or purse; or ‘in a safe place’)
• 46% allow other people to use their bank card (friends, family members, ‘people I trust’, or in an emergency)
• 62% have been given someone else’s card and PIN to use
• 73% insufficiently destroy used card receipts and old bank statements before throwing them away
• 74% insufficiently destroy direct mail offers for accounts, loans and credit cards

Unclassified

• 34% know a fellow student who has experienced financial fraud
• 10% have personally experienced either identity theft, stolen credit cards/PINs or unauthorised withdrawals from their account.

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