Member Article

'SMEs bury heads in sand over ID theft'

Only 4% of businesses successfully destroy all sensitive information, despite 93% saying they take identity fraud seriously and 91% claiming to shred all sensitive documents.

In the third day of National Identity Fraud Prevention Week 2006, new bin raiding research, commissioned by Fellowes and completed by WastesWork shows that businesses are failing to protect themselves and their customers from identity fraud.

Raiding the bins of SMEs in London revealed that 79% of businesses sampled had not made any effort to destroy sensitive material, 30% threw away information that would be useful to competitors, 40% threw away sensitive client information including home addresses, phone numbers and photocopies of passports, and 30% threw away personal information relating to employees - including home contact details.

Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax commented: “Far too many businesses are burying their heads in the sand on the issue of corporate ID fraud. When you consider that it is estimated that corporate ID theft could be costing British businesses £50 million a year, ignoring the problem could be very expensive indeed. And the cost of ID theft and fraud isn’t just financial; a company stands to lose its hard-earned reputation and the confidence of customers – two things most businesses simply can’t afford to lose. Common sense and due diligence are key to preventing businesses from becoming one of these victims.”

The National Identity Fraud Prevention Week campaign has set up a dedicated website – www.stop-idfraud.co.uk, with a test to highlight ‘how at risk you are’. A free ‘Protecting Your Identity’ guide can also be ordered from 0800 1810 1810.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .