|
|
||
|
News
|
||
|
News |
Dateline: 29th March, 2005
Theatregoers Conned out of Personal Information 200 theatregoers in London's West End have been conned into giving personal information which would enable anyone to "steal" their identities. When asked questions by a market researcher and being offered the chance of winning two tickets to a top West End show, those interviewed freely gave the following information:
Some even continued to provide the information after realising that it could be used to empty their online bank accounts. Fortunately the "researcher" was not a criminal but Claire Sellick, events director of the Infosecurity Europe trade show and the research was to find out just how many people would provide this sensitive information. The horrifying result is that 92% provided enough information for their identity to be stolen. Infosecurity did provide the tickets promised and the personal information was destroyed. The head of Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit, DI Chris Simpson, described the results as "disturbing, to say the least", and he went on to say, "However, they do highlight the need to raise public awareness of identity theft: what it actually means, how it can happen and the potential consequences." Claire Sellick commented, “For the past ten years we have endeavoured to highlight many of the common IT security concerns and vulnerabilities – such as information breaches via employees and consumers. This survey showed how easy it is to steal a person’s identity and breach a company’s security – security is only as good as the awareness of the people it protects. One lady I surveyed said, “I work for a bank and this information could be used to open a bank account”, I replied “yes”, she then proceeded to give me all her details! Another man provided all his information without question, but returned five minutes later asking for it back, as he thought that we could use it to gain access to his on-line bank account, we gave him back his survey form, but did not provide any evidence of who we were. If we had been fraudsters he would have been too late.” According to the Home Office Identity theft may support criminal activity, which could involve fraud, deception, or obtaining benefits and services in the victim’s name. More than 100,000 people are affected in the UK every year. Last year Home Office Minister Des Browne said, "Having your identity stolen is very traumatic - it can take some victims up to 300 hours to put their records and their lives straight. ID fraud costs the country more than £1.3 billion per year. Multiple or false identities are used in more than a third of terrorist related activity and in organised crime and money laundering." Identity Fraud guru Dr Stephen Hill from Accountants Chantrey Vellacott DFK says, "Whilst people are becoming aware of the larger-scale commercial frauds that have been uncovered, it is not commonly realised that private individuals are now the direct victims of an increasing number of fraudulent scams. It is quite possible to lose money as a result of fraud but not just money. If fraudsters get access to information about you, they may be able to impersonate you and steal your identity. They could either open a new account or obtain new credit cards or loans using your identity. Your identity is a valuable asset - don't give it away for a chance of a free theatre ticket !" The Infosecurity Europe trade exhibition is at Olympia from 25th to 28th April. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
|
|
|
|
