GWENT Police is supporting a UK wide awareness campaign encouraging people to protect their personal information.

The ‘Not With My Name’ campaign, produced with the City of London Police (National Policing Lead for Fraud), is targeting identity crime in local communities.

The knock-on effects of identity fraud range from the inconvenient to the highly distressing, with issues taking on average 200 hours of a person or businesses time to resolve.

Victims often find that money has been removed from their bank or their account has been taken over, a fraudulent passport or driving license has been created in their name, or loans, mortgages and mobile phone contracts have been set-up using their identity.

The wider effects for society are also concerning with the proceeds of identity crime often being used to fund further criminal activity.

To combat this rising threat the ‘Not With My Name’ campaign will be highlighting advice focused on helping people protect their personal information. This will include pointers on creating safe passwords, protecting internet devices, dealing with unsolicited phone calls and emails, and safely storing and disposing of mail.

These messages will be shared across the country, with the campaign being supported by 35 local police forces and organisations that include Get Safe Online, Cifas, FFA UK, Age UK and Experian.

A key part of the campaign will be delivered across police force Facebook and Twitter accounts and on June 29 at 5pm there will be a national Twitter chat, hosted by @actionfrauduk.

Detective Superintendent Bill Davies from Gwent Police, said:

“We are pleased to support this national campaign. We will be using the week to remind residents of the continued need to take steps to protect their personal identity to prevent any criminal activity. The impact on the victims of identity fraud is very real and we hope that by following a number of security measures, the number of people who fall victim to this type of crime can be reduced.”

Individuals and businesses that have fallen victim to a fraud facilitated by an identity crime should report to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at www.actionfraud.police.uk.