Half of us slack with bank security

21 May 2008

Which? says one in two people fail to protect themselves from bank fraud

The consumer association Which? says that half of us are still too slack when it comes to protecting ourselves from bank account and credit card fraud.

Around half of the 4,000 Which? members surveyed admitted to using the same PIN number for more than one card.

A similar percentage also admitted to using their mother’s maiden name as a password and said they failed to check if the website they were using was secure before they shopped.

Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? Money, said: “There’s a lot more people can do to prevent fraud occurring.

“Shredding documents and checking your bank statements are a good start, but people need to be wise to basic fraud risks such as using their mother’s maiden name as a password, or shopping on websites that aren’t secure.

“By taking a few basic precautions, people can significantly reduce the risk of fraud,” he added.

The survey also revealed that one in seven people write down their PIN numbers and passwords.

Additionally, one third of respondants said they had had money fraudulently taken from the bank account or credit card.

However, most of the participants were aware of some of the more common fraud risks and said they shielded their PINs from potential ‘shoulder surfers’ while using cashpoints, checked their statements for fraudulent transactions and shredded or ripped up documents.