A reminder: why protecting your online identity is vital

“It won’t happen to me.” Dangerous words in any context, but when applied to identity protection this attitude can have truly frightening and negative effects that may only be revealed years down the line.

Despite a growing community of aware individuals, reported cases of identity fraud and theft in South Africa for the end of 2014 is estimated to reach 4 000 – a significant increase from the 1 370 reported cases in April 2014. Overall, identity theft is estimated to cost the country R1 billion per year. Even the South African Police Service admits to being inadequately equipped for this specific crime-niche.

So,still think you’re safe?

In fact, no one is safe from the wily ways of identity thieves and fraudsters​. We’re under a false impression that only the naïve and gullible could fall for the cunning techniques used by identity thieves, but this is nearly as dangerous as thinking it will never happen to you. With cases of identity theft on the increase in South Africa, due to corruption and a notoriously slack attitude regarding the protection and proper disposal ofsensitive physical documents, it’s not only the naïve and gullible who become victim to these crimes, it’s public faces such as celebrities, politicians and entertainers — TV presenter Jeannie Dee, SA Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, and even Jacob Zuma have all been targets for identity thieves.

With rampant corruption across South African governmental systems spurring criminal activity, identity theft is the choice offence for white-collar criminals. It’s relatively easy to duplicate an ID document in South Africa, or replace an existing ID photo with a fraudulent image. If obtained via exposed sensitive personal documents, an ID number can be used to repurpose a fake identity document, as was the experience of South African Times Media Group journalist whose identity was impersonated to open up a mobile phone account, using only her ID number. The most alarming part of the news report? The journalist had never left her ID document unattended, or insecurely kept.

The question lingers, why protect your online ID?

It’s simple: We live in a digital age where we share information across continent and oceanic borders. Despite identity theft happening in real-time, it’s imperative to protect your online data from hackers who easily compile lists of information to sell within the DarkNet. Communication and collaboration has been transferred online to include a global market, and our real-time personalities are increasingly being integrated into our online identities with online banking facilities,shopping and social media platforms.

The netizen has become weary of the pseudonym, preferring to do business with a trusted, verified person. With cybercriminals running amok on the Internet and accessing sensitive personal data via the Dark Net, being a trusted online entity is key in 2015.

A large part of becoming trusted online involves protecting the elements of your identity from being exposed and exploited, and keeping your authenticated online ID managed. There are approximately 24.9-million internet users in South Africa alone, and with the improvement to infrastructures Africa is the top growing population in the world regarding Internet use. The unfortunate accompaniment to this development however, is the increase in online criminals who are out for your personal data every second, creating new crafty ways to attain this information, and sliding by unnoticed.

Further, cybercriminals work with the “victims” who then claim their innocence. It’s a well-known fact that an identity fraud or thief can access an individual’s entire personal profile from just an ID number. It’s clear from the sharp rise in this particular crime that a change in attitude is long overdue in South Africa regarding identity security.