GeneralExperian: Smartphone users not being "smart enough" about phone usage

Experian: Smartphone users not being “smart enough” about phone usage

Experian Smartphone TextThere is no denying the fact that using a smartphone has numerous advantages, but at the same time we also need to safeguard ourselves against the various security and identity theft issues which are most rampant these days. Experian has cautioned all smartphone users who unknowingly risk the security of their identity by storing extremely sensitive information on their phones and use unsecure Wi-Fi networks to go online.

Experian’s identity-protection service ProtectMyID, conducted a comprehensible research. According to it, slightly more than half ie.53% of smartphone users accessing social networking sites using their phones are grossly unaware of the fact that this might reveal vital information like dates of birth, age, names etc along with. They are also observed to make public other details such as password of an email account, online banking account and other accounts, such as pet dog’s name or place of birth unknowingly.

Almost two thirds ie.65% of smartphone users ignorantly forward and store e-mails using their phones disregarding the blatant fact that it contains highly sensitive information such as credit card numbers or receipts from online purchase. Close to one third ie.29% of smartphone users are guilty of taking undue advantage of public Wi-Fi hotspots (mostly encountered in city centers) which are not secure and highly susceptible to information thieves. Every one in five ie.19% admitted that they naively perform online banking with aid of public Wi-Fi, risking their passwords, PINs and account details.

“The personal information on an average smartphone is like gold dust to an ID thief and many of us could be putting this on a plate by using public Wi-Fi networks. A criminal can use this information to masquerade as the phone’s owner, drain his or her accounts, run up debts in their victim’s name and even open new accounts.” stresses Peter Turner, Managing Director of Experian Interactive.

He adds “Often, the first people know about it is when they receive a demand for payment for services they haven’t used or for an account they have never heard of. We’ve certainly seen cases where criminals have changed the address of the smartphone, ordered new handsets and run up huge bills.”

The Home Office has deduced that the mobile phone identity fraud has risen at an alarming rate approximately 74% during the first half of last year. While more than half of the smartphone users who participated in the ProtectMyID survey were blissfully unaware of the problems that existed.

According to the records made public by the Metropolitan Police, there is an alarming rise in the rate at which smartphones are also stolen every month. So it only makes sense to be safe by taking necessary identity protection precautions than be sorry by pointlessly risking security.

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