BT publishes guide to help prevent online identity theft

Consumers urged not to have their "head in the sand" over the growing threat of online ID theft

BT has released a ten-point guide to help prevent internet users falling victim to online fraud and identity theft.

The guide forms part of an internet security report highlighting growing and future online threats, published by BT in conjunction with organisations such as Yahoo, the government's Get Safe Online campaign and the Metropolitan Police.

The need for a guide was highlighted by the report's findings which showed 62 per cent of consumers surveyed thought that online fraud could not happen to them.  Over 40 per cent said that they were not aware whether they had been victims of online fraud or not.

Although the report only said eight per cent of those surveyed have been victims of online fraud in the last year, the problem is growing aided because consumers are unaware of the major new and rapidly growing threat of online identity theft.

Offline, stealing identities is often a piecemeal affair, as thieves gather small pieces of information from paper trails to gradually create a persona. Among consumers, awareness of how criminals can rifle through their rubbish to carry out ID theft now has quite a high profile; much of which has been generated by television campaigns and advertising.

The result has seen a boom in the sale of paper and card shredders.

But the report found consumers seem unaware that the internet and not their dustbin is the place criminals are now most likely to use to steal personal information.

"Criminals are always looking for new ways to make money,” explained Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer, head of the Metropolitan Police Economic Specialist Crime Unit.

"Online identity theft and fraud are the latest techniques," he said.

With the security report giving consumers a comprehensive overview of these new and emerging online threats, the BT guide lists ten top tips that consumers should use to protect themselves.

This includes people understanding the risks and employing the same safeguards they would in the offline world, such as being cautious and sceptical about 'too good to be true offers'; keeping PC security up-to-date; not giving security details away and never clicking on links in emails.

The guide also contains a comprehensive list of where people can go to for help, advice and to report cyber-crimes.

The list is long and includes the Get Safe online website, Card Watch, the UK banking industry body that works with the police, retails and organisations such as Crimestoppers, Millersmiles, the internet's biggest archive of spoof email and phishing scams where people can go to check and the Metropolitan Police Fraud Alert.