Protect your personal information

1. Guard your PIN while using cash machines and don't be distracted when using them. Crooks use a technique known as shoulder surfing to get your PIN number, and use an accomplice to knock into you or distract you while they steal your card. Look around for anyone acting suspiciously or hanging about before you use the machine. If you get a receipt, keep it. Don't throw it away in bins near the cash machine.
2. Never throw away whole bills, receipts, card slips, bank statements or even junk mail that has been personalised to you. Destroy these documents before they go in the bin, for example, by cutting them up or shredding them.
3. Be plastic smart
• Don't carry cards around with you if you don’t need them. When you’re not using them, keep them securely at home or, if you’re away from home (for example, in a hotel) keep them in the safe.
• When you’re buying something with a card, keep it in your sight to guard against skimming (a method of obtaining your card details by swiping it through a small hand–held device, usually to clone the card).
• If your cards are lost or stolen, cancel them immediately. Keep a note handy of the emergency numbers to call to do this or, even better, programme them into your mobile phone.
• Be careful when giving card details or personal information over the phone, by internet or in a shop – make sure you cannot be overheard or overlooked.
4. Be postal smart
• Be extra careful if you live in a property where it can be accessed by other people, and mail is left in communal areas.
• Make sure you know when to expect regular bills and statements, and follow it up if they don't arrive – they may have been stolen.
• If you move home, give your bank, card issuers and all other official bodies your change of address as soon as you can. You should also set up a mail redirection with the Post Office from your old address to your new one.
• If you suspect your post is being stolen, contact the Royal Mail Customer Enquiry Line on 08457 740 740 (call rates may vary) straight away. You can check whether a mail redirection order has been made in your name without your consent.
• You can also obtain a copy of your personal credit file from a credit reference agency to see if it includes any entries that you don’t recognise. If you find any, refer the matter to your local police station and ask for a crime reference number. You will need this to help correct your credit file – see Related links.
5. Be password smart
• Choose passwords carefully – don't use obvious things like your account name, date of birth (or, indeed, the word ‘password’). Also try to use different passwords for different accounts; otherwise, if a thief manages to get access to one account, they’ll access them all.
• Try to ensure your passwords and other log–in details are unique and could not easily be guessed by other people.
• Try to memorise your passwords and other security information – don't write them down for someone to find and use.
• Never store your password for online banking or other financial dealings on your computer. It's much safer to type in your password each time you access the service.
• Remember to log out at the end of a session.
6. Close any accounts you no longer use, as it’s easy to miss rogue transactions involving a dormant account. If you've lost track of old accounts, you can trace them through a free service run by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) and the Building Societies Association (BSA). Just complete a simple claim form, available from banks, building societies, libraries, Citizens Advice Bureaux, the BBA or BSA.
7. Try to avoid accessing sensitive information in a public place – if you need to do so whether at work, in an internet café or a library:
• make sure no one is looking over your shoulder at the computer screen;
• never leave the computer unattended; and
• close down the internet browser program when you have finished to clear any security information from the computer.
8. If you think someone else knows your security information, tell the financial firm you're dealing with straight away; they’ll tell you what to do.
9. The safest way to operate your accounts is to keep your passwords and PIN numbers confidential. However, some online services ask you to let them know your password; if you want to use these services, and haven't checked with your original service provider that this is OK, you may risk losing money if an unauthorised transaction takes place.
10. Always check with your service provider if it is OK to give your password to another service provider before using the services of the second provider – if in doubt, don't give your password to anyone.