Brits not as savvy as they think when it comes to ID protection

A staggering four million people in the UK have already fallen victim to identity theft; the Experian Victims of Fraud team showed a massive (37%) year-on-year increase in the number of confirmed cases of fraud resolved in 2013 – yet, it appears that many Brits are still falling short of even the basics of online identity protection.

Based on a survey of 2,000 UK adults:

More than a quarter (27%) have shared their full name on a social media website; a quarter their full date of birth (23%)

Less than 4 in 10 (39%) have different passwords for every online account they use

20% have a paper or electronic record of their online passwords
 
In fact, even amongst those who have directly been affected following a data breach:

Almost half (46%) didn’t change the password on the affected account having been notified that their information may have been lost

Less than a third (30%) changed the passwords on other online accounts to protect themselves further

Only 20% claimed they changed their online behaviour after having become a victim
 
The research conducted on behalf of Experian suggests that a lack of understanding around online identity theft among Britons is contributing to the gap in British savvy. A quarter of those surveyed claimed not to expect that they would ever become a victim of a data breach, while 28%felt there was little they could do to protect themselves from identity theft.
 
Taking what they learned from the research as a challenge – one Saturday in a bar in South London, Experian set out to explore whether they could make the people of Britain sit up and take notice of the importance of protecting their online identities. As part of the company’s online identity protection education strategy, the team set out to see if they could convince five perfect strangers they were old friends… using only the personally-identifiable information freely available about them online. And the results were quite astounding: watch the video here to see what happened.Peter Turner, Managing Director, Experian Consumer Services UK&I, said: “As this video shows, it’s amazing to see how many people are not aware just how much of their personally-identifiable information is available online, and also how willing they were to share even more information to people they didn’t know and trust. In the wrong hands, this information could all be used directly to commit identity theft or sold onto fraudsters.”
 
“While we enjoy all the web has to offer, it’s essential we’re vigilant in protecting our online identities, too. Exercising caution when sharing your information and making some simple changes to your online behaviour are key to helping protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft,” he continued.
 
Simple steps from Experian to help protect yourself from online identity theft:

Be aware of who has your personally-identifiable information – including your full name, date of birth and email address. When asked, consider how much of your information you really need to share with the organisation looking for it.

Consider what details you have publicly-available on your social media profiles. Take the time to do a quick check of your profiles and make sure you’re only revealing a level of information you’re comfortable with.

Set your social media privacy settings to high – make sure the people you befriend on social networks are people you know and trust. Remember that what you share with your friends might provide valuable insight to a fraudster who can access your details.

Use different, strong passwords for each of your online accounts – passwords should have a minimum of 10 characters and avoid words from the dictionary.

Disable auto-fill settings on all your devices so that you’re only sharing your information consciously.
 
Regularly checking your credit report for unusual activity can help you spot signs of fraud early and take steps to address the issue before you suffer financial loss. Anyone who thinks they may have become a victim of identity theft can contact the Experian Victims of Fraud team, a service available free to fraud victims, with dedicated caseworkers to give tailored advice and support.
 
For further information on this and other identity protection initiatives, visit facebook.com/thepeoplesidbotproject.