Socialised consumers — and in particular tech-savvy and tech-dependent young people — must do more to protect themselves and safeguard their personal networks from determined identity thieves, it emerged today.
They represent a hugely active online segment that makes most downloads, posts the most updates, participates in the most sharing of information – and as a result are likely to be among the most at-risk from fraud and ID theft.
Online scams and cybercrime ranges from unauthorised access of email accounts, theft of personal data, hacking a social media account, to credit card information and identity theft.
And staying safe online is a growing problem, getting bigger and more costly.
As our recent Twitter debate, #FraudChatUK revealed.
In an increasingly digital world we are seeing an increasing marketplace of opportunities for crooks #FraudChatUK @ID_and_Fraud
— Ian Cunningham (@IanCExperian) November 20, 2015
@ID_and_Fraud Fraudsters want to steal someone’s identity (name, date of birth, addresses) to commit identity fraud #FraudChatUK — Action Fraud (@actionfrauduk) November 20, 2015
Fraud is a lucrative business but often goes unpunished. Therefore ID & other types of fraud are attractive to criminals. #FraudChatUK
— Martina Dove (@curiousshrink) November 20, 2015
Staying safe online may sound obvious but many still engage in risky habits with many individuals retaining the same old log-ins year in, year out, without changing them and failing to password–protect smartphones, hand-held devices or PCs. For more information, visit our top-10 for protecting your ID tips.