Personal information 'needs to be protected'

By Sarah Engle, Mon 4 Aug 2008 - Published in Banking

People need to take more care with the kind of personal information that might be supplied when applying for a credit card or a loan, Equifax claims.

External Affairs director Neil Munroe warns in addition to storing physical financial documents and other sensitive information carefully, people need to be aware of the threat posed by electronic ID fraud.

He states it is vital people protect their personal details when on the phone and when using the internet.

Mr Munroe said: "You really need to be very circumspect about your personal information and if you have any doubts about the organisation or where it's going, don't send it."

One form of ID theft which is on the rise is facility takeover, according to figures from Cifas.

Facility takeover occurs when a fraudster impersonates a person in order to start using an existing bank account.

During the first half of 2008, facility takeover fraud rose by 157 per cent.

Meanwhile, statistics from Apacs show the number of phishing emails increased by 200 per cent in the first three months of 2008, compared with the same period the previous year.

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