Shredall's 'Top Tips' to prevent identity theft.

• Only 44% of the general public say that they regularly check bills and financial statements against receipts.
• Only half verify emails or calls from organisations before responding.
• 82% of British people believe that the company they work for doesn’t take identity fraud seriously enough.
• Nearly 1 in 3 people who own a smartphone say they use it for online banking.
• Over half (53%) of smartphone users admitted they don’t or are not sure if they clear their browser history.
• 36% of businesses don’t have a comprehensive policy or procedure in place to help prevent identity fraud.
• Only 56% of businesses have put in place a clear policy on how to handle documents with sensitive information.
• Only 7% of consumers feel totally confident that their personal data is being handled securely by businesses.
• Under the Data Protection Act, an organisation should not discard intact customer, staff, and supplier information: it must be securely destroyed; not doing so could result in a £500,000 fine.
• One third of employees are still throwing away documents without shredding them first.
• Overall, 71% of UK employees think their companies should do more to ensure confidential documents are handled responsibly.
• Only 56% of British organisations have a comprehensive policy to help protect people’s identities.
• 40% of British employees believe that employees’ and customers’ identities could be obtained from company bins. This is one of the highest figures in Europe.
• Investigations found that the average amount lost due to fraud per year by UK small businesses is around £3,000.

There are many ways to protect your private information from fraud. Some tasks take a bit of effort, but cleaning up the mess identity thieves leave behind is far more difficult.

Personal Information

• Keep all identification and financial documents in a safe and private place.

• Provide personal information only when you know how it will be used, you’re certain it won’t be shared, and you’ve initiated contact and know who you’re dealing with.

• Make all passwords hard to guess by using a complex combination of numbers using upper and lower case letters.

• Be aware of your workplace’s security procedures. Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place.

Credit and Debits Cards

• Photocopy both sides of your credit/ debit cards so you have all the account numbers, expiration dates and phone numbers. Keep the copies in a safe place. Carry only the cards you really need.

• Cancel unused accounts.

• Shred your confidential waste with www.shredall.co.uk - bank statements, credit card offers etc..

• Be aware of people behind you at the ATM, or anywhere else you swipe your card. If you give your card to someone for a transaction, watch them swipe it and inspect the receipt for accuracy.

• Examine your transactions online or on your statements each month.

For more information, contact Shredall (SDS) Ltd at www.shredall.co.uk or call 0800 393 178 for a free personal quote!