The United Kingdom’s fraud prevention service, Cifas, launched an online video – Data to Go – to raise awareness about the growing issue of identity theft: an issue that has increasingly been affecting victims under 30. The number of affected youth has grown by 52% in the UK in 2015.
Fraudsters have progressively been stealing genuine people’s personal information and using the victim’s identity to buy products online or take out a loan. Thanks to people’s readily available information on online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others – such as dateThe year in which a medal or coin was minted. On a banknote, the date is usually the year in which the issuance of that banknote - not its printing or entering into circulation - was formally authorised. More of birth, address or bank account information – fraudsters don’t have to create fake identities or make fake documents: they simply put together the pieces and recreate the real thing. Almost 90% of all identity frauds were carried out online.
To better inform UK youth about the risks of posting too much information online or not taking enough precautionary measures on one’s phone, the video films London coffee shop customers with hidden cameras. After customers “like” the coffee shop on their mobile phones’ Facebook app, the barista quickly collects the person’s information and writes it all over their takeout coffee cup. The customers leave the coffee shop while their creeped out expressions are immortalised on camera.
To read Cifas’ article, please click here.