Social media sites a goldmine for identity fraudsters: warns British report

Almost 24,000 people aged 30 and under have been victims of identity fraudsters in Britain in the past year, figures released Tuesday reveal.

Cifas, Britain's leading fraud prevention service, reported a 52 percent rise in young identity fraud victims in 2015. The new figure of 23,959 is up from 15,766 in 2014, and is more than double the 11,000 victims in the same age bracket in 2010.

A survey among 18 to 24-year-olds in Britain found they are "alarmingly unaware that they are at risk," with the organization saying social media sites have become a new goldmine for fraudsters.

The release of the figures came on the same day as a new short film, Data to Go, is launched online to raise awareness of this type of fraud.

Filmed in a London coffee shop, the film uses hidden cameras to capture baffled reactions from people caught in a stunt where their personal data, all found on public websites, is revealed to them live on a coffee cup.

A Cifas spokesman said Tuesday: "Often victims do not even realize that they have been targeted until a bill arrives for something they did not buy or they experience problems with their credit rating."

"Fraudsters usually have access to their victim's personal information such as name, date of birth, address, their bank and who they hold accounts with. A total of 86 percent of all identity fraud in 2015 were perpetrated online," he added.

The agency warned people of all ages can be at risk of identity fraud, but with growing numbers of young people falling victim, it is calling for better education around fraud and financial crime.

Simon Dukes, CEO of Cifas, said: "We are urging people to check their privacy settings today and think twice about what they share. Social media is fantastic and the way we live our lives online gives us huge opportunities. To a fraudster, the information we put online is a goldmine."

Commander Chris Greany, from the City of London Police, who is also national coordinator for economic crime, said: "We have known for some time that identity fraud has become the engine that drives much of today's criminality and so it is vitally important that people keep their personal information safe and secure."

Earlier this year, a report was published estimating that the annual cost of identity fraud in Britain was 254 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to almost 4,000 U.S. dollars per head of the population. Enditem