It's Personal! Keep It That Way

What happens if your personal data is leaked and how can you protect yourself from scammers? Here’s advice

- Lesego Seokwang & Joy Mphande

When he heard about the Experian data breach, Tebogo Sehuma* had a strange feeling he’d be targeted. He’d been a victim of identity theft before and, just as he feared, it had happened again.

Tebogo, who registered with TransUnion after being scammed five years ago, was later alerted about unusual activity linked to his name by the consumer credit reporting agency.

“They said there’s a personal loan application at a bank. I told them it’s not me, so the loan was declined,” he says.

But the criminals who’d used his personal information had already gotten away with fraudulent activity – when he later checked his credit report, Tebogo discovered he owed about R7 000 in-store credit. He’s still trying to clear his name.

“The worst part about your identity being stolen is trying to prove you are you.”

The recent data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of South Africans to a suspected fraudster is the stuff of nightmares. Two months ago, the South African branch of credit-reporting company Experian admitted to sharing the information of as many as 24 million people and more than 600 000 businesses with someone they later discovered was a conman.

Craig Rosewarne, managing director of cybersecurity company Wolfpack Information Risk, says Experian is one of several companies that hold a massive amount of information on individuals.

“Their clients are typically banks and any company that wants information on consumers so they can do background or credit checks,” he says.

This information includes your ID number, physical address, property ownership and credit activity.