If your identity information is seized, you may face a long and painful process. Those who had a similar experience before had to deal with endless cases. However, the measures you can take may prevent you from facing this situation.
Getting your identity contact stolen is one of the biggest misfortunes you could ever have. Moreover, since we live in a digital age, your identity no longer needs to be physically stolen. We remember the events of the recent past: The database uploaded to the internet by hackers contained the personal information of almost 50 million citizens of the Republic of Turkey. After this incident, the possible consequences of identity information theft have been discussed a lot. Those who have been in a similar situation before, told people to take precautions by telling their experiences.
On April 6, 2016, Twitter user named @aka_parantez, whose identity information was stolen before, shared his experiences via social media platform: In 2013, a man with a -page criminal record put his own photo on my driving license and produced a new identity card. With this fraud identity card, he had four different phone lines. I stated this situation to Turkcell and cancelled these lines. Then, I turned to prosecution. However, the phone lines were the tip of the iceberg. He was fined twice in traffic due to his irresponsible manners. Then, the charge was in my name. I have lost some points in my driving license. He rented a house with a copy and made a lease. He got away with a huge debt to his landlord. With this fraud license, he made electricity subscription to BEDAŞ (power distributor of electricity in Istanbul). In the end, BEDAŞ cut off the electricity of my house because he did not pay the electricity fee of the house due to his debt for a completely different house. This Twitter user's experience is not over yet. Moreover, he is not the only one who experienced this frustrating process! Bekir Kılıç, another citizen in Samsun, found himself in a similar situation. Kılıç, whose identity information was frauded in 2004, learned that a company was opened in Istanbul on behalf of him after a long time. As a result of his research, he found out that the fraud person received loan for this company which was established by using Kılıç’s personal information.
They use many methods to seize your personal information. In order not to face such situations, you should never say “I am very careful about using internet, nothing happens to me”. Because the biggest weapon of scammers is computers! By hacking or cyber-attacking, your personal information can be compromised by fraudsters. In addition, their methods you see as old-fashioned are very popular among scammers. Grabbing, mail forwarding, automobile license plate copying, card copying, counterfeit CV, home or office theft, old identity / credit card etc. from trash. detection, stealing application documents from GSM operator dealers and other institutions are still among the most frequently used methods by scammers.
How should credentials be protected?
There are some simple precautions you can take to protect your credentials and then avoid unpleasant surprises. Most importantly, take control of your computer. You should host as little personal data as possible on your computer and protect your computer against malicious software. However, keep your physical identities well and pay attention to the documents you discard. Specifically, you need to keep your photocopies as secure as your identity; Keep in mind that @aka_parantez the Twitter user faced a lot of problems because of his photocopy of identity.
In addition, you should be on alert when shopping online. Choose secure online passwords, keep a close eye on your credit card activities, and shop from secure sites.
There are other things to do besides these steps to prevent theft of your credentials. With the help of Quick Insurance's QKimlik Protection Insurance, you can secure your information and feel risk-free in the digital and physical world. Because QKimlik Protection Insurance guarantees the legal expenses you will have to make in order to protect yourself if any private information about your identity is reached and used. When your ID is stolen, you can spend up to $ 20,000 to resolve potential issues. Thanks to your insurance coverage within the policy; your expenses are guaranteed for your assets stolen from your accounts due to legal services, travel expenses, loss of income and stolen passwords.
What to do if people whose credentials are seized?
Those whose identity information is seized or misused must apply to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. In this way, they can submit a complaint petition for the detection and punishment of the mortals. According to Article 139 of the Turkish Penal Code, such offenses are not offenses related to complaints but can be prosecuted ex officio. An investigation is carried out on behalf of the public even if the persons concerned do not complain and if the perpetrators are identified, a public trial is put on. Citizens whose identity information is seized will be combined with this main file and the file will be carried out in a public way.
