Some people 'are revealing their credit card numbers on social network sites'
Published On 11 February 2008
Consumers need to be more careful about the financial information they make available on social networking sites, an industry expert has claimed.Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online, explained that some people had been known to put vital information, such as credit card numbers, on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
He said that this was effectively making it much easier for criminals who might be looking to commit identity theft.
"People are just not being sensible about the sort of information that they put on these sites. They should be very careful of what they put on," Mr Neate added.
"Certainly don't put things like your telephone number and your address. It has been known where people have actually given credit card details out.
"Now, your personal identity online is so precious and people can take it over if you lose it. So the less information you can give people, the better."
Figures from the UK's fraud prevention service, CIFAS, showed that identity theft is costing the British economy over £1.7 billion annually.
