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Consumers and businesses both have a role to play in preventing ID theft, argues Neil Fisher, vice-president of Global Security Solutions, Unisys.
Peaks in ID theft tend to mirror peaks in consumer spend. So with Christmas in sight, fraudsters are capitalising on every opportunity to enrich themselves by preying on consumers and businesses alike as security is ignored in the rush to buy and sell presents.
According to a recent survey* by shopping comparison site Kelkoo and the Centre for Retail Research, online spend in the UK is forecast to reach £8.9 billion over the holiday period (a 24% increase on last year’s figures). Fraudsters bank on the fact that their targets may be too distracted by the Christmas festivities to notice any unexplained outgoings, at least until it’s too late. And because it’s very difficult to police this sort of under-the-radar crime, the culprits remain unidentified and at large to strike again.
Given that we’re now living in a digital world where information is currency, the Internet is the playground of choice for a new generation of switched on criminals. As we increase our broadband speeds, the potential to do harm, as well as good, will only intensify. The Internet has essentially provided a medium where defrauding unwitting members of the public is much easier while remaining anonymous.
