Report Raises Concern on Identity Theft in UK

A research by MORI Social Research Institute reveals that more than half the United Kingdom’s population is concerned about identity fraud and bin raiding, yet still only one in ten people are shredding their personal letters, bank and credit card statements before disposing of them.

Commissioned by Fellowes, leading manufacturer of personal and office paper shredders, the research shows that concern about fraud is extremely high: 72 percent of people are concerned about credit card fraud; 71 percent are concerned about bank card fraud; 64 percent are concerned about identity fraud; and 55 percent of the nation is concerned about bin raiding the process of searching through bins to obtain personal financial information to commit fraud.

Although nine out of ten people think that shredding is an effective way to destroy their personal and financial information, the research reveals that still only a third of people have access to a shredder at home and only one in ten regularly shred to safely dispose of personal information.

According to the report, identity theft costs UK residents about 1.3 billion pounds a year.