Careless consumers 'at risk from fraud

Britons' laid back approach to security when it comes to their finances could make us easy picking for criminals, according to research from Experian published today.

The survey, published to coincide with the launch of a new online credit history service, suggested that despite regular warnings about the prevalence of identity fraud, more than eight million people in the UK would be willing to disclose their details to an unknown cold caller.

According to research published by the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs) earlier this month, identity fraud involving credit and debit cards rose by 45% in 2003, making it the fastest growing crime in the UK. The practice of creating false accounts in another person's name, or taking control of another person's existing accounts, was worth a staggering ?29.7m last year, Apacs said.

Yet despite these figures, Experian found that a significant percentage of the population would still furnish an unknown caller with the two pieces of personal information most useful to identity thieves. Twenty per cent of people would disclose their mother's maiden name if asked for it, while an astonishing 46.4% would give out their date of birth. It also appears that women are warier of strange callers than men: 22% of men would be prepared to give out their details over the phone, compared with just 14.5% of women.

And according to Experian, our apathy extends to other areas of our finances, making it less likely that we would be aware of a fraud even had one been committed. Their survey revealed that, while around 80% of people believed that they could correctly estimate their bank balance to the nearest ?100, 14% admitted that up to ?500 could go missing from their accounts without their noticing, and 3% could only estimate their balance to within the nearest ?1,000.

Furthermore, 11% admitted to throwing their financial documents away without shredding or even ripping them first, putting themselves at risk from 'bin-raiding' fraudsters. Less than half (45%) of us follow recommended practice for managing documents, with one in 10 having no system for storing or managing their financial documents at home at all.

Jill Stevens, director of consumer relations at Experian, commented on the results of the survey. "More than ever, consumers need to be extra careful about how they dispose of and disclose personal financial information, to ensure they stay safe from fraudsters," she said. "Think twice before disclosing personal or financial information to cold-callers, even if they claim to be from your bank or an official organisation - always phone the organisation back with the number you have for them, not the number you've been given."