Re:
A reasonable question here, and I expect we have a financial
> > institution or so on this list to help answer it, is how can the
> > ordinary person know that this has happened (until the 6am knock on the
> door, of course.
> > I understand one notices that in a highly stressful manner), how can
> > they protect themselves from it, and most importantly, how can they
* > defend themselves against it?
Answer:
For a fee all the credit reference agencies offer a service whereby you can
receive regular updates of your credit file/alerts where there has been a
significant change e.g. a search made or a new account added
I assume your reference to 6am knock is a reference to debt collectors -
unlikely - harassment and a breach of S40 of the Administration of Justice
Act 1970!
Experian, in conjunction with Nottingham City Council and with the support
of Nottinghamshire Police, commissioned an independent, data protection
registered research company to analyse the contents of hundreds of domestic
refuse bins under controlled, secure conditions, to see what people were
throwing away which could be useful to fraudsters
* On average one in every five bins contains a whole credit or debit card
number linked to an individual name and 80 per cent of these have an
associated expiry date. In more affluent areas, up to two in five bins (40
per cent) contains a whole credit or debit card number linked to an
individual name and 80 per cent of these have an associated expiry date.
* Only 14 per cent of household rubbish bins contain absolutely no
information of interest to fraudsters.
* Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of bins contain the full name and full
address of at least one household member.
* Bank account details are regularly found in bins and, on average, one in
every five bins contains a bank account number and sort code that could be
related to the full name and address of a household member. In more affluent
areas, 27 per cent of bins contains bank account numbers and sort code
details.
* Only rarely were attempts made to destroy information. Just eight per cent
of households throwing away full card numbers had made attempts to destroy
the documents, and only one percent of households had been successful.
In a second survey commissioned by Experian to find out how widespread the
problem of bin raiding is, it was revealed that 75 per cent of local
authorities admit that bin raiding is regularly taking place in their area
and, of these, 80 per cent agree that the problem is getting worse.
Personally I shred anything, including envelopes, which has my name and
address on it.
Alasdair Warwood
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