3. world’s population are online and
mobile–cellular communications are
used by almost 6.8 billion persons –
close to global population figures*
.
This shows that there are favourable
conditions for the spread of ID thefts,
in particular, on the electronic space.
Thus, education, in the opinion of the
Project implementers, is the first step
to prevent identity thefts.
*
Source: www.itu.int/go/mis2013
1. Overview of the project
There is no definition of an identity
theft in the legal acts of Lithuania.
This act, although existing in reality,
has not been criminalised in Lithuania.
Identity thefts are likely both in daily life
(non‑electronic space) and online.
Identity thefts imply the appropriation
and theft of confidential information.
Hence, it is very important to protect
personal data and, first of all, take all
preventive action to avoid ID theft.
The scope of ID thefts is precisely
unknown either in Lithuania or
globally. According to the data of the
International Telecommunications
Union (ITU), almost 40 per cent of the
Project‘ID Theft: Prevention through Education’
Between September 2013 and December 2015, Lithuanian Consumer
Institute was implementing Project‘ID Theft: Prevention through
Education’, which has been co-financed by the Programme on Prevention
and Fight against Crime of the European Commission.
In the course of the Project, the Lithuanian Consumer Institute
implemented diverse activities, prepared educational materials and
publications. The brochure provides a brief description of the most
important project activities and publications.
Project website:
http://www.vartotojai.lt/en/ID-theft
3
4. 10 000
10 000
3 000
15
138
19
610
Project objective is to equip consumers with knowledge about
ID thefts in daily life and online in order to enable them to avoid ID thefts
and know where to report them, as well as develop a responsible attitude
to the management of their personal data.
Target groups of the Project: youth (schoolchildren, students), adults
(teachers, senior population in the regions with little use of the internet),
organisations and institutions involved in the processing of personal data,
private sector representatives who can contribute to the prevention of ID thefts.
2. Innovativeness
and Achievements
Identity Theft Awareness
Days in schools
schoolchildren
There have not been any projects
on the issue of identity thefts
implemented in Lithuania so far.
This topic is new and the issue covered
is difficult to grasp – it is even more
difficult to make others aware of it.
Hence, the Lithuanian Consumer
Institute has undertaken uncommon,
innovative activities to make the
Project as successful as possible.
The Lithuanian Consumer Institute
is convinced that the Project is
significant for fuelling discussions on
ID thefts not only in Lithuania, but
also across other EU countries.
Identity Theft Awareness
Days in universities
students
Campaigns in shopping centres
persons
Animated comic series
comic series
Competition of posters
posters
Competition of detective stories
detective stories
CDs for Lithuanian schools
and education centres
informations CDs
5. 15 % of the Lithuanian population
are often unaware of the meaning
of personal data.
3. Activities
Lithuanian public opinion
survey (sociological survey)
In April 2014, a representative
Lithuanian population survey
(sociological survey) was carried out
as commissioned by the Lithuanian
Consumer Institute (hereinafter –
the Survey). The Survey aimed at finding
out the opinion and experience of the
public in relation to personal data thefts
online and in the non-electronic space
as well as on the issue of using stolen
personal data for criminal purposes.
1005 respondents between 18 and
75 years of age from various regions of
Lithuania (in 65 sample locations) have
been surveyed during the survey.
The survey results show that even
15 per cent of the Lithuanian popula-
tion are often unaware of the meaning
of personal data. Moreover, even 49 per
cent of the respondents do not know
what an identity theft means (consider-
ing the probability of statistical bias, this
figure is likely to amount even 54 per
cent): 40 per cent responded that an
identity theft is introducing oneself by
a fake name and surname (i.e. using the
data of a non-existent person) and 9 per
cent did not know in general what it
means. The results obtained show that
the awareness of the Lithuanian popu-
lation about ID thefts is inadequate and
that there is a shortage of information
for effective safeguards from ID thefts.
Furthermore, the population survey
confirms that almost one fifth of
the population has been personally
exposed to ID thefts in Lithuania: 2.5 per
cent of the respondents noted they had
personally encountered an ID theft and
16.4 per cent indicated that ID thefts
had been encountered by their family
members or friends.
Project activities:
Lithuanian public opinion survey,
press conference, articles in the
regional media, press releases,
virtual information centre, online
scam test, competition of posters,
competition of detective stories,
animated comic series, identity
theft awareness days in schools
and universities, round table
discussion, project website,
campaigns in shopping centres.
Project website:
http://www.vartotojai.lt/en/ID-theft
5
6. Virtual information centre
This information centre provides
information how to identify identity
thefts in daily life and in the cyberspace;
advice is given how to avoid ID thefts
and whom to contact in one or another
specific case, including answers to
frequently asked questions and a brief
overview of the legal aspects of identity
theft in Lithuania.
The campaign participants received
student-tailored organisers with exam-
ples about the most important informa-
tion about ID theft threats in daily life
and in the electronic space, descriptions
of the importance of personal data
protection and information whom to
contact in case of an ID theft.
Identity Theft Awareness Days
in schools and universities
The Lithuanian Consumer Institute
sought by these events to make school-
children and students aware of ID theft
threats, in particular, emphasising the
risks encountered on the cyber space
and methods to protect against them.
Consumer awareness is key in order to
avoid crimes involving an unlawful use
of personal data of others. Officers of
prevention units of the police were also
involved in some of the campaigns.
Project website
Project website details information
about the activities implemented
during the project, its publications
(the slides may be downloaded free of
charge to your computers) and other
information, for example, you there
may get access to the presentations on
personal data protection and privacy as
well as on identity theft and other issues
discussed at the conference-round
table discussion‘ID Thefts – Issues, Legal
Regulation, International Context’that
took place on 14 April 2015.
Project website:
http://www.vartotojai.lt/en/ID-theft
7. Campaigns in
shopping centres
The purpose of preventive campaigns in
shopping centres was to make the pub-
lic aware about the threats ensuing from
identity thefts and encourage them to
protect their personal data better.
The campaign organisers distributed
campaign calendars about ID thefts
to shopping centre visitors, as well as
explained what ID thefts mean, how to
protect oneself and where to report them.
The campaigns in shopping centres
were implemented in cooperation with
police officers in Vilnius, Kaunas, Utena,
Ukmergė, Šiauliai, Klaipėda, Panevėžys
and Alytus. The police officers took the
finger prints of the shopping centre
visitors who wished to have them taken
and also explained how to protect
personal identity data in a proper man-
ner. This cooperation has been highly
successful because it was not only an
opportunity for visitors of the shopping
centres to get their finger prints; police
officers also could learn more about
identity thefts, received the information,
which has been prepared during the
Project and which will be used during
their presentations to schoolchildren.
7
8. Competition of posters
The objective of the poster competition‘Protect
Your Identity!’was to raise the awareness of
young people about ID thefts, inform how
to protect their rights and where to report
problems, encourage them to take interest in
the topic of ID thefts, perceive their impact on
personal finance and the national economy,
present the issue of personal identity theft
through art, promote the creativity, individual
style and critical thinking of young persons.
Online scam test
Try out the interactive online test‘How
to Make the Life of Sheep named Avinas
Ragius Difficult?’on the website of the
Lithuanian Consumer Institute. The test
has been created in order to present
practical information about the preven-
tion of identity thefts to your persons
in an attractive manner. Young persons
may take the test and see if they know
how to handle their personal data.
The test presents a character, the
animated sheep named Avinas Ragius,
who encounters ten hypothetical
situations where personal data are at
risk. The person taking the test should
choose the answers to make the life of
animated sheep named Avinas Ragius
as difficult as possible. At the end of the
test, the person finds out if he/she
has been successful in choosing
the options leading to the worst
consequences. After the test has
been completed, the person may
look up correct answers.
8
1st place winner poster“Be cautious in the Internet”
Ieva Daščioraitė, student of Kaunas Juozo Grušo secondary art school.
9. Competition of
detective stories
The purpose of the competition of
detective stories‘Watch Out: ID Theft’
was to encourage young persons
to take an interest in the issue of ID
thefts, understand their impact on
personal finances and on the country's
economics, develop the skills of
creative writing on the topics relevant
for the public. The competition also
aimed at educating young persons
on ID thefts, informing how to protect
their rights and whom to contact in
case of problems.
The following animated
comic series are currently
available for viewing:
• Little Red Riding Hood
• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
• The Snow Queen
• Mirror Mirror
• The Kitten And The Rooster
• Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs
• The Wolf and the Seven Kids
• The Crow and the Cheese
• The Three Little Pigs
• Winnie-the-Pooh
• Eglė the Queen of Grass-
Snakes
• The Emperor’s New Clothes
• The Nutcracker
• Alice
• Third Brother the Fool
Animated comic series
Fifteen animated comic series are
available on the project website.
The animated comic series are
interesting to various target groups,
in particular, children and youth.
The comic series increase the
awareness of young persons of various
methods of identity theft through
creative analogies. All comic series
are joined together by the same
character – the story teller. The plot
of each animated comics is partly the
same as the plot of a well-known tale.
The story teller tells how an accident or
misunderstanding in the tale is similar
to a specific method of identity theft
and warns the reader to watch out.
In addition, the comic series teach a
lesson and more careful treatment of
personal data.
Project website:
http://www.vartotojai.lt/en/ID-theft
10. 4. Publications
Project publications:
presentation to teachers, notebooks for
schoolchildren, notebooks for students,
calendar with information about
identity thefts, information brochure,
newsletter of the project. Newsletters
were released during the Project.
They describe the Project achievements
and provide relevant information about
identity thefts. The Tear-off Calendar
with brief information about ID thefts
has also been published.
Presentation for teachers
Slides‘Watch Out: ID Theft’is a meth-
odological aid prepared by the Lithua
nian Consumer Institute for teachers
and other employees of education to be
used during classes – available on the
website of the Project of the Lithuanian
Consumer Institute. The slides make use
of specific examples to explain the con-
cepts of personal data and identity theft,
discuss the methods of identity theft in
daily life and by modern technologies.
The slides not only provide information
material but also include practical tasks
for schoolchildren to solve in order to
uptake the main rules of responsible
personal data handling and protect
themselves against identity thefts.
The slides have many illustrations and
thorough additional notes for teachers.
The presentation is for three
lessons:
Identity theft and personal data.
Schoolchildren are informed about
the concepts of personal data and
identity theft, learn about negative
consequences of identity theft.
Risks in real life. Schoolchildren
learn about real-life situations
where identity loss is at risk and
negative consequences are likely:
in stores, when wallets with docu-
ments are lost and non‑destroyed
documents containing personal
data are thrown away, etc. There is
also advice how to avoid such risks.
Risk posed by modern tech-
nologies. This lesson describes
the situations where identity thefts
are likely when using information
technologies: the safety of pass-
words, the use of WIFI, etc. Advice
is provided how to protect one's
identity in the virtual space.
11. Notebooks for schoolchildren
Notebooks for schoolchildren are
designated to inform school-age young
people about identity thefts, their
consequences and provide them with
preventive knowledge how to handle
their personal data in a proper manner.
In order to capture the attention of your
people and communicate information
material attractively, a character has
been created – animated sheep named
Avinas Ragius. The publication tells ten
different stories how the sheep loses
its identity and faces negative conse-
quences (e.g, releasing its e-banking
codes to the telephone scammer who
pretends to be a bank employee).
Most stories stress the necessity for safe
behaviour in the electronic space, firstly,
in social networks and using e-mail as
it is most relevant for young persons.
Each story is followed by some advice
how to prevent identity thefts.
The organiser explains personal data,
includes interesting tasks, informs where
to report in case of identity thefts.
Notebooks for students
The notebooks for students by the
Lithuanian Consumer Institute are des-
ignated to inform young people about
identity theft risks, their consequences
and provide them with knowledge how
proper treatment of personal data can
prevent this threat.
The publication describes in the lan-
guage understandable to students how
to protect oneself from identity thefts
with a special focus on the safety of
personal data when making payments
for online purchases, communicat-
ing in social networks, using e-mail.
The organiser provides information
with reference to analogies – compares
why a certain practice acceptable in
one case (to share likes, information,
etc.) is utterly unacceptable in terms of
personal data. Students get brief infor-
mation about the concepts of personal
data and identity theft as well as about
the consequences suffered by victims
of identity thefts. The organiser also
includes various tasks, practical advice
and other useful information.
Project website:
http://www.vartotojai.lt/en/ID-theft
In total 20 000Notebooks
for schoolchildren and students
with information on ID theft
were disseminated.
11
12. Co-financed by the Programme on
Prevention and Fight against Crime
of the European Commission
