Idenity Theft

Roughly 20,000 people who reported identity theft and identity fraud crimes to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre last year represented an increase of about 5,000 complainants over the previous year.
"And only a fraction of these crimes are reported,"

Here are tips from the RCMP on how to avoid identity theft and fraud:

* Be wary of unsolicited emails, telephone calls or mail seeking personal or financial information from you;
* Regularly check your credit reports, bank and credit card statements and report any irregularities promptly  to the relevant financial institution or to the credit bureaus;
* During transactions, swipe your cards yourself rather than let a cashier do it for you. If you must hand over your card, never lose sight of it;
* Always shield your personal identification number when using an ATM or a pin pad;
* Memorize all personal identification numbers for payment cards and telephone calling cards;
* Trash bins are a gold mine for identity thieves. Make sure you shred personal and financial documents before putting them in the garbage;
* And when you change your address, notify the post office and all relevant financial institutions.