(hint A whole lot. And they don’t need much to do it)
Once a criminal has the information they need, they could:
- apply for a credit card in your name
- open a bank or building society account in your name
- apply for other financial services in your name
- run up debts (e.g. use your credit/debit card details to make purchase) or obtain a loan in your name
- apply for any benefits in your name (e.g. housing benefit, new tax credits, income support, job seeker’s allowance, child benefit)
- apply for a driving licence in your name
- register a vehicle in your name
- apply for a job/employment in your name
- apply for a passport in your name
- apply for a mobile phone contract in your name.
Many of these actions and applications don’t take much personal information to complete. Sometimes the details on a simple electricity bill can be enough. Every document containing any form of personally identifiable information should be properly destroyed when its no longer needed. It’s not worth the risk.