Police in Finland have received over 2,000 reports of suspected identity theft since last September when the stealing of personal information for criminal intent became a stand-alone offense in Finland.
A record number of identity theft reports were made to the police in June, at 300. This number fell in July to close to 200, which was still more that at any time in 2015.
Inspector Sami Kalliomaa from the Helsinki Police says the rates are high.
“You have to take into account that the overall number of fraud incidents has grown, and identity theft is often linked to fraud. In any case, the numbers are large, and we have to tackle the problem to get them down,” he said.
Kalliomaa wouldn’t go as far as drawing conclusions about the rapid growth however, as the reference period is still quite short.
“It is of course possible that identity theft as a newly-named crime is slowly becoming more familiar among the victims and the people reporting them. This would cause the amount of reports to grow steadily, but it remains to be seen,” said Kalliomaa.
Hackers seek financial gain
Identity theft is the deliberate and illegal use of someone else’s name, identifying number or credit card data without their permission. A conviction must establish that financial loss or significant damages have been incurred by the victim.
For example, if stolen information is used to commit fraud, the person whose identifying information has been used may have considerable trouble sorting out the resulting situation and financial consequences.
“Very large proportions involve ordering goods via the Internet with someone else’s personal information, for instance. Or using another person’s identity to enter into a subscription contract for a mobile phone or a broadband connection. Other cases concern opening bank accounts with false information or creating fake profiles on social media,” said Kalliomaa.
Most incidents occur online
“Identity theft can cause all kinds of damage and inconvenience. The suspected cases that are reported to us are usually motivated by the pursuit of financial gain.”
The best way to protect yourself against identity theft, said Kalliomaa, is to exercise general caution.
“The important thing is to react quickly and inform the police immediately if there are signs that your personal data has been compromised.”
Getting to the bottom of identity theft depends on how the data was stolen and in which way, says Kalliomaa. Some cases are easy to solve, while others are more complex entitities.
Law change a benefit
Kalliomaa says that identity theft being made a separate offense in its own right in Finland’s Criminal Code has been a good move, as it has clarified the law and filled a gap, especially when it comes to the more recent phenomenon of fake profiles on social media.
“Although earlier incidents in which another person’s identity was used without permission had previously been construed as an offense, and were prosecuted accordingly.”
Finnish law currently punishes identity theft with a fine.
