Facebook identity fraud risk
Facebook: Give the world your details
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Friday, 26, Oct 2007 03:54
The UK's 3.5 million Facebook users are being warned they are putting themselves at risk of identity theft.
Identity fraud is costing the UK economy some £1.7 billion a year, with as many as one in four consumers falling victim, however the British Bankers' Association (BBA) is warning people are becoming blasé about their personal information on social networking sites such as Facebook.
"Anything as basic as your address or your date of birth could be used by identity thieves, so [with] anything as basic as that you should beware of broadcasting, and anything more personal than that can be even more help to criminals," a BBA spokesman said.
"[Putting personal details online] is becoming more the norm, but it's important always to stay vigilant and to beware of who can actually see the information.
"For example, people posting personal information on Facebook is one of the new ones now. Once that's there online it can be seen by other people, and you don't always have control over who can see it [or] what their motives might be. So it's important to always be careful."
The BBA is calling for warnings about the risks of entering and showing data on websites.
"If they were reminded of the potential risks then that would be a really good thing," the BBA spokesman said.
"We're certainly trying to do our bit as well on behalf of banks, but a lot of potential ID fraud and internet crime relates to other aspects of life other than banks as well."
People are also being warned about entering personal details on computers used by other people, such as those in internet cafes.
"When you're in an internet café using a computer that is potentially used by many other people, you have less control over the security settings and so on," the BBA spokesman said.
"If it's not your own computer and you don't have control, then you should be extra careful."