How to protect yourself from identity theft this festive season

The festive season brings joy, but also a rise in identity theft with more online shopping. Identity theft is when a fraudster acquires someone's personal information and then uses it to commit fraud. People are in buying and gifting mode during the festive season and this makes them more vulnerable to identity theft. 

If you are looking for ways to protect yourself from identity theft this festive season, here are some tips for you.

According to Sarvpriye Soni, Director, Cove Identity, protecting your finances from prying eyes is crucial and it doesn’t have to be tough. 

"Start by choosing platforms that value your privacy when shopping or handling finances. Look for security assurances on their websites or ask their customer support. Regularly checking your bank and credit card statements can catch any unusual activity early. Be cautious with what personal details you share online; cyber thieves often piece together information from different sources," Soni said.

Also, one should avoid making financial transactions on public or unsecured networks where information can be easily snatched. Stay informed about common scams, and share this knowledge with friends and family. Consider using secure cloud storage for an extra layer of protection can be beneficial, Soni added.

Adopting multi-step verification for sensitive accounts adds another hurdle for thieves. With these simple steps, you can significantly reduce the risk of identity theft, ensuring a joyful, worry-free festive season.

However, there is a limit to how careful users can be. Hackers always find loopholes and come up with new ways of theft. Therefore, preventing such scams extends beyond informing users to be careful. Deepak Syal, Director and Co-founder GreyB, is of the view that banks and Fintech companies must prepare their security teams to become more aware of the innovative solutions that are being developed around the world to tackle this problem. 

For example, whenever any bank in the US comes up with a new way to prevent theft they file for a patent. If our banks in India can constantly keep a watch on every solution related to identity theft described in a patent they would know what kind of problems are going to come next. In this way, the responsibility will be less on the end user and will be shared with the bank.