Eight in 10 people risking identity theft: Study
Eight out of 10 people are leaving themselves open to identity theft by binning personal information, a study revealed today.
Even though the vast majority of people fear they are at risk from the fraud, less than half of us know how to protect ourselves against it.
According to research published to mark National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, an estimated 87,000 people have already been the victim of ID theft, one of Europe’s fastest growing crimes.
The study was commissioned by Fellowes Ireland and company spokesman Ciaran Dunne warned people to take extra precautions to protect themselves.
"Your identity is the most important thing you have and people have got to stop being so complacent and start to put up a fight against identity fraud," he said.
"People need to be more vigilant and follow the simple steps needed to help safeguard their identities.
"They need to check their mail for unusual transactions, report missing post immediately, never give out information to people unless absolutely sure and importantly, they need to shred anything you wouldn't want in the hands of a stranger."
The survey was based on a sample of 603 people with 3% claiming they had been victims of identity theft.
The result was used as a representative figure to calculate the total number of adults aged 18 and over who may have been affected by the crime.
Identity theft occurs when an individual or a company's personal information is obtained in order to assume their identity.
Fraudsters are getting their hands on personal information by rifling through rubbish bins, intercepting mail and sending out fraudulent emails.
However, paper shredder manufacturer Fellowes claimed people are making it all too easy for ID theft to happen with over two thirds of those surveyed admitting they throw out bank statements, bills and pin numbers without shredding them.
A third of people said they did not report the loss of a passport straightaway, while just over half said they do not check bills against receipts.
Fraudsters are also increasingly using the internet to obtain personal information with online shopping and social networking considered high-risk activities.
Meanwhile, nine out of 10 respondents admitted they were worried their personal information might accidentally fall into the hands of fraudsters.
More than 90% of employees surveyed said identities of employees and customers could be at risk of being stolen.
Just 20% of respondents surveyed across the five countries – Ireland, UK, Holland, France and Belgium – said they were well-informed about this type of crime.
