In partnership with the University of Ottawa and the RCMP, Waite has written a guide for students advising them on how to avoid identity fraud.

Identity fraud, according to the RCMP, it is one of the fastest growing crimes in Canada.

Last year alone, the PhoneBusters hotline received 105,000 calls reporting various incidents of identity fraud which amounted to about a $60 million cost to victims.

Waite says the inspirations for the guide did not come from personal experience. "I've been lucky." She says she started the guide as an education and awareness initiative when she started working at the RCMP as a temporary civilian employee. But it quickly became a full-blown guide on the dos and don'ts of how to avoid identity fraud.

Clueless students

"Like most students, I was completely unaware of identity fraud," she says.

Waite, a biomedical science and criminology student at the University of Ottawa started working on the guide last June but it was only completed just prior to its Mar. 16 release.

She conducted most of her research online, with the help of the Commercial Crime Branch of the RCMP. She says she was surprised to learn students are at a particularly high risk.

"We have more chances to get our identity stolen because we do more stuff online," Waite says.

Students also tend to "carry their life in their wallet" and this puts them at risk of getting their identities stolen.

Waite says because of her research, she is more aware of the threats. For example, not all identity fraud happens on the internet as almost one third of victims have had their wallets stolen.

Then there is the added risk of a student card in the wallet. On many campuses, student cards have multiple uses — such as for meals, borrowing books from the library and going to the gym.

The student card has therefore become "another ID that you have to be aware of," Waite adds. At some universities, students have the option of cancelling their cards as soon as they get lost so others cannot use the money or information contained on the card.

Most credit card companies also cover the losses from a stolen card, but the responsibility is on the owner to report it stolen as soon as it happens and to show that they have not incurred the expenses.

Her guide contains extensive information on the common types of identity fraud and how to prevent becoming a victim as a result of things ranging from using wireless Internet hotspots to responding to false charities or letters from foreign countries asking for money, which are common in junk e-mail.

The guide also touches on less common types of identity fraud such as being victimized after filling in raffle or prize forms at shopping malls and card skimming.

Benefits for everyone

Sgt. Michel Haché, the Identity Fraud Coordinator at the Commercial Crime Branch of the RCMP, supervised Waite through creating the guide. He says even though the guide is aimed at students, its advice is equally relevant for everyone.

Personal information can be used anytime from minutes after it is stolen to decades after, Sgt. Haché says, and this information can be sold to multiple parties who keep re-using the information, at the cost of the victim. Not everyone knows how to protect themselves especially with recent advances in technology.

Sgt. Haché says he meets parents at information sessions all the time who are not able to advise their children on how to protect their personal information online. He says this happens because the internet has far more uses than it had 10 years ago, so parents are not always aware of what their children can do online, and how they can be protected.

To prevent others from stealing your identity, carry only the personal cards you need at any particular time.

Raising awareness about the possibilities of identity fraud is the best way to reduce it and eventually stop it, Sgt. Haché says. A guide like this, he adds, also informs educators and law enforcement officers.

So far, there has only been one identity fraud information day on the University of Ottawa campus, though Sgt. Haché says there are plans to showcase the guide on campuses across Canada.

"It will get out," he says."The best way to reduce victimization is to educate people."

Waite says she's now working on a broader guide for all consumers to cover some of the areas the student guide did not cover, such as fraud involving home renovations.

Related Links Personal Information and Scams Protection: A Student Practical Guide Advice for consumers from Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada More on identity fraud from the RCMP Reporting economic crime online (RECOL) PhoneBusters