Take Precautions!

A very belated happy new year from See All Her Faces, who didn't make any New Year resolutions, but clearly should've done- to get back on her blog!

Anyway, an interesting of news I've mentioned on Twitter (@seeallherfaces1) and Facebook (see the badge to the right of this post)

Analysis of records on the CIFAS Staff Fraud Database for 2010 have revealed there has been no change in the overall number of cases of proven insider fraud year on year.... But...

Interestingly, the balance of types of fraud has shifted- with a huge 62.5% increase in cases of "unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data", which is a very worrying devleopment- we're talking alot more serious than hands in the till, we're talking theft of your personal information for use in identity theft and identiy fraud by potentially serious criminals.

So of course you should continue to always be vigiliant when using cards in store- make sure they never go out of your site, make sure the store copy of your card receipt goes back in the till, and store or shred your own copy etc.... But also- consider what other personal information you may be giving out a lot more casually in store, on seemingly innocuous forms- mailing lists, competition entries, store card applications... With your name, address, other unique identifiers such as date of birth etc may be all that are required.

Of course the duty of responsibility falls on retailers to for example be PCI (payment card industry) compliant, and make sure your personal information is safe and secure, but these new figures demonstrate that we can't rely on them alone- take steps!