5 steps to protect yourself from ID fraud

Guest post from Simon Ellson.

This week is National ID Fraud Prevention Week, which got me thinking about an experience that I had on a recent holiday in Greece.

Whilst I was there I booked a sight-seeing boat trip with the Holiday Rep.  We were staying on a remote Greek island and so I wasn’t surprised that the Rep didn’t have a chip and PIN reader when she took  my payment. However, it did surprise me that she didn’t have one of those old-fashioned card swiping machines, the ones with the multi-sheeted carbon paper.  Instead she placed my credit card under the carbon paper sheets and rubbed over the credit card with the edge of a pen, brass-rubbing style – how very hi-tech!

It made me smile and in my relaxed holiday frame-of-mind I didn’t really consider how insecure this was or how easy it would be for my card details and signature to be captured.  Luckily, the Rep was totally trustworthy and my ID hasn’t been misused.

However, this isn’t the case for everyone. Research issued by Action Fraud has found that although 95% of the UK population is aware of the threat and risks of identity fraud, the number of victims is still rising. People continue to be careless with their identities and the average cost of these incidents to each victim is £1,190.  National ID Fraud Prevention Week is another reminder for us all to protect our offline and online identities.

Simple actions can help to keep you and your family secure:

  • Don’t share your personal details with others
  • Use a private computer when  shopping online
  • Ensure that the website you’re using is secure (this is indicated by the padlock  and the “https://” before the URL)
  • Use smart passwords (to find out what makes a smart password, take a look at this blog  by Symantec)
  • And of course, always use an up-to-date internet security package.

The Stop ID Fraud website, prepared especially for this week, has a resource centre where you can download useful tips and advice on how to protect your  identity.  You can also use the Norton downloads, to keep your online stuff safe and protect your family and your possessions.

October 19, 2011 | Filed Under Identity theft, Security 

comments

Leave a Reply