Identity theft expected to rise

The Consumer Profile Bureau warns that criminals are going to have a bumper season this year by stealing identities. Business Report quotes CPB managing director Fred Steffers as saying identity theft is expected to reach record proportions over the Christmas season, as identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country. Together with other white-collar crimes it siphons off more than 40-billion rand a year from the economy. Steffers says their system shows that there are substantially higher numbers of identity theft and resultant frauds that are committed with stolen documents. He advises that the less information one carries the less one has to lose to criminals on the prowl.