How Can I Reduce My Risk?

Protecting Your Birth Certificate

When you are not traveling, store your birth certificate in a safe place, along with other valuable documents such as your passport.
Call the ORG at 416-325-8305 if your birth certificate is lost or stolen while you are traveling outside Ontario.
Report a lost birth certificate to the Office of the Registrar General (ORG) immediately by calling toll-free at 1-800-461-2156, or at 416-325-8305 in Toronto or outside Ontario.
Your lost birth certificate will be cancelled so no one else can use it. If you find a birth certificate, notify the ORG or deliver it to the police at once.
Check to make sure whether or not you need your birth certificate when you plan to travel outside Canada. Always secure your birth certificate and all your vital documents in a safe location.
Don't carry your birth certificate in your wallet or purse.
Don't carry a photocopy of your birth certificate.
Note that these tips should also be applied to your driver’s licence and Social Insurance Number (SIN).

Protecting Yourself at Home

Always store any cards and documents containing personal information in a secure place, and shred them after they expire.
Review the balances on your statements from banks, credit cards and companies regularly and report any discrepancies right away.
Once a year, get a copy of your credit report from the two national credit reporting agencies, Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. The report tells you what information the bureau has about your credit history, financial information, any judgments, collection activity and who has asked for your information.
If your bills don't arrive, or you applied for a new credit card that hasn't come on time, call the credit grantor immediately.
If you are going to be away from home, ask a trusted neighbour to pick up your mail, or go to your local post office (with identification) and ask for Canada Post's "hold mail" service.

Protecting Yourself in the Marketplace

Carry as few cards and documents as possible, and always check to see the credit card you get back is your own.
Be wary of giving out any personal information over the telephone unless you've placed the call yourself or know the business.
Never tell anyone the password you use at the Automated Banking Machine (ABM), and be sure no one is watching when you use an ABM.
Financial institutions and police will never ask for your passwords.
Don't put more than your name and address on your personal cheques.

Protecting Yourself Online

Fake or "spoof" websites are designed to trick consumers and collect their personal information. Be cautious when clicking on a link or an unknown website or unfamiliar e-mail. The link may take you to a fraudulent site.
Be wary of computer start-up software that asks for registration information.
Never share your passwords.
Don't use e-mail to send personal information.
Discourage harvesting of your e-mail address – think about creating "disposable" e-mail addresses for online purchases, mask your address or use a unique e-mail address.
Beware of Internet promotions that ask for personal information. Identity thieves may use phoney offers to get you to give them your information.
After completing any sort of financial transaction online, make sure you sign out of the website and clear your internet file/cache. Most financial institutions provide instructions on how to clear the caches under their "security" section.
Don't give a credit card number or other identification information to a company that doesn't provide its name, business address, telephone number and e-mail address.
Before giving your credit card number or other financial information to a business, make sure that their website is protected and secured. Look for a lock symbol located somewhere on the browser or make sure the URL begins with "https://".
Chain letters and phoney investment schemes try to win your confidence with false promises of incredible returns – they're only after your personal and/or credit information.
Teach children to keep their identities confidential in chat rooms, bulletin boards or newsgroups. Help them learn to choose screen names that do not identify them, and to understand that any information they exchange on the Internet is not private.
Look into encryption, firewalls and virus protection for your computer.