Identity theft is a serious and growing problem in the UK, with more than 118,000 cases reported in the first six months of this year alone. Last year, the National Fraud Database logged the highest number of fraud cases on record, and identity theft made up the single biggest category – due in part to AI driving more sophisticated and harder-to-spot schemes.
The consequences of identity theft can be severe, including unauthorised accounts being opened, loans taken out or insurance claims made in your name. This can affect your financial affairs, hurt your credit score and even have legal repercussions. This year, Citizens Advice Somerset reported the case of a resident left with debts of £45,000 after scammers stole their identity to set up a business – which only came to light when they received a council tax demand for thousands of pounds. In May, the Sun reported that Aaron Bargota of Tamworth, Staffordshire, was battling to clear his name after having his identity stolen and used to falsely claim Universal Credit at an address in London. He only became aware of the fraud when hundreds of pounds were deducted from his wages by the government to reimburse the payments.
But in an era where everything from our bank accounts to our social lives are online, there is a simple way you can reduce your risk. ExpressVPN, the world’s largest premium virtual private network provider, employs the industry’s most advanced server technology, TrustedServer, to shield your personal information from prying eyes – whether that’s governments, your internet service provider or potential identity thieves.
When you install the app, it creates a secure tunnel between your devices and the internet – preventing tracking and surveillance, preserving anonymity and enhancing safety, so that your personal details cannot be stolen. ExpressVPN uses the same encryption standard adopted by the US government – meaning that even if someone did manage to intercept your data, it would be unreadable. It even protects you when using public wifi, one of the greatest risks for identity theft.
At home, ExpressVPN masks your IP address, making it harder for criminals to track your everyday activities and build a profile of your habits and interests – all of which could jeopardise your ID security by helping them launch targeted phishing attacks or compromising your security questions. When you browse through ExpressVPN, your data and browsing history say private, and there are no activity logs or server logs recording your every move.
Securing your passwords is crucial to protecting your identity, too – particularly when it comes to email, which hackers could seize control of to hijack your banking, shopping and social accounts. ExpressVPN can help here with ExpressVPN Keys – a built-in password manager that can not only create and store unlimited passwords, but can monitor your password health and protect other sensitive data such as credit card details.
In the age of the UK’s Online Safety Act, ExpressVPN also saves you from having to hand over ID documents for age verification checks without knowing who might see them or how securely they will be stored. By connecting to one of ExpressVPN’s ultra-fast servers in more than 100 countries, you can browse as though you’re outside the UK – bypassing the Online Safety Act and avoiding the need to give sensitive personal details to faceless firms.
The ExpressVPN app also comes with Threat Manager to defend against malicious sites and trackers, at no extra cost, plus an ad blocker for uninterrupted browsing and parental controls to ensure the whole family stays safe.
With the annual cost of identity fraud estimated at £1.8 billion per year in the UK, ExpressVPN could save you money – not to mention the hassle of picking up the pieces if your identity is stolen. Readers of The Spectator can try ExpressVPN for just $3.49 per month – a discount of 73 per cent – plus four bonus months for free. For more information or to take advantage of the deal, click here.
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