Identity theft in the UK is rising at an alarming rate. Between January and June 2024, more than 127,000 cases of identity fraud were recorded by fraud protection association CIFAS – a rise of 4% compared to the same period in 2023.

Identity fraud is the act of illegally using someone else’s personal information, such as their name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number, credit card details, or other identifying information, without their permission. This is typically done to commit theft, fraud, or other criminal activities. The purpose of identity fraud can range from accessing financial accounts and making unauthorised purchases to opening new accounts, securing loans, or even committing crimes under the victim’s name.
Which? has published 10 tips to avoid identity theft:
- Never reveal account, personal or payment information in unsolicited calls, emails or texts
- Create strong passwords for use online and don’t use the same one for every website you log in to
- Subscribe to an antivirus software to protect your devices
- Don’t leave things like bills lying around for others to see, and shred documents with your name, address or financial details
- Tell your bank or card company if you’re expecting a bank or credit card statement and it doesn’t arrive
- Ask Royal Mail to redirect your post for at least a year if you move home
- Don’t accept invitations from people you don’t know on social media sites
- Avoid downloading dodgy apps by checking reviews
- Make sure that your social media profiles are private and don’t post any pictures showing sensitive information, such as your car number plate or home address
- Never use public wi-fi networks to access sensitive apps or sites, such as mobile banking
We are likely to have many contacts that need passwords and it’s often an easy option to use the same one again and again. The problem is that if one site gets hacked, the fraudster can access your details on other accounts. To manage passwords safely, consider using a password manager.

Password managers are programs that look after your passwords for you. In most cases they will also generate strong, unguessable passwords and then make sure they’re associated with the right websites.
There are several to choose from, but they all do the same thing – create an encrypted vault that stores all your passwords, generates passwords and in most cases will fill in passwords on websites for you.
Most of these have a free and a paid-for option. They will also have apps and browser extensions so you can use them on all your devices – your PC. laptop, mobile, or tablet.
For more information about password managers, read this article from Which?