Not a model citizen!

Identity theft is a form of fraud in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity. So say the South African Fraud Prevention Service. And identity theft is a crime. 

Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.

But what happens when someone steals your personal information from a website and then uses just a telephone to wreak havoc in your name? 

This is exactly what happened to Shaun Stander the owner of Mobile Model Management. Shaun was blissfully running his model agency completely unaware that someone had gained access to his personal information and was calling up random young girls pretending to be Shaun and propositioning them over WhatsApp. 

Shaun was first alerted of this when the mother of one of the underage girls rang him up and asked if he was chatting to her daughter on WhatsApp and asking for inappropriate photos. When he said “no” a shocking revelation unfolded. 

Turns out, a man posing as Shaun had been contacting young women, some minors, asking to send him “naked or pictures of themselves in lingerie”. He also asked the girls to meet him for a one-on-one “interview” where he said they would have to go the “extra mile” in order to secure lucrative modelling jobs. This extra mile included oral sex and foreplay.  

Thankfully none of the young women took him up on his offer. 

But Shaun’s horror didn’t stop there. He approached the mystery man’s WhatsApp service provider, Vodacom, to try and obtain an identity of the perpetrator. Vodacom replied that he would have to obtain an order through the police and subsequently a court to get this kind of information. So, he went to the Brighton Beach Police to lay a charge. But what charge would he lay, the officer on duty asked.  

It seems the fact that someone was falsely using his identity to solicit sex from young girls (the WhatsApp conversations are damning) didn’t matter because, according to the officer Shaun spoke to: “an actual crime had not taken place”. 

Take a listen to Shaun’s interview here: 

It’s far easier to try and prevent an imposter from continuing to wreak havoc when they try and impersonate you on Social Media, like Facebook. In recent years there have been a number of stories involving Facebook imposters. In fact in a story similar to Shaun’s, Thabo Bester, dubbed the Facebook Rapist, used the online connection site to lure young models to hotel rooms where he would rape and violently assault them. 

But does it have to get to this point before the police get involved? Surely a preventative measure should be looked at before it reaches this point of no return?

Impostor accounts aren't allowed on Facebook. So if someone creates an account pretending to be you there are a few things you can do. 

1.    Go to the impostor profile
2.    Click   on the cover photo and select Report
3.    Follow the on-screen instructions
4.    If you don't have a Facebook account, you can report an impostor account by filling out this form.
5.    If you've lost access to an account you created, learn how to recover or secure your account.
6.    If you see an abusive Page, you can report it.

At the end of the day it’s up to us to “Protect Our Information” and there are a few simple things that we can do in order to make it difficult for criminals to gain access to our personal information. 

Protect your personal information diligently to avoid becoming a victim. If identity thieves can't access vital data like your ID or bank account numbers, they can't defraud you.

Some identity theft occurs the old-fashioned way. Thieves rifle through garbage, steal mail, and use con games to trick you into revealing sensitive details. It's up to you to protect your personal information. Here are some basic tips to get you started:

1.    Don't give out your ID or bank account numbers over the phone.
2.    Shred paperwork containing account information or personal identifiers.
3.    Keep important documents in a locked safe.
4.    Pick up and send sensitive mail at the post office.
5.    Try and use electronic deposits for money transactions.

And finally, to parents, no reputable model agency will set up a one-one-one interview in a hotel room. Nor will the agent ask your child to send him naked or scantily dressed pictures over the phone. If this happens, it’s an immediate red flag. And if you have a young daughter, under no circumstances should she go alone to meet the supposed agent. 

You can email your thoughts to Terence Pillay at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @terencepillay1 and engage with him there.