The Child Benefit Agency has report it has lost the personal details of every parent who receives child benefit. The data includes names, addresses, dates of birth, national insurance numbers, child benefit numbers and bank accounts. As a result, 25 million people are now vulnerable to identity fraud if the data on two discs falls into the wrong hands.
They aren't the only ones. In a matter of weeks, data breaches have been reported by organisations as diverse as insurance companies and retailers.
No wonder recent research showed that many of us do not trust big institutions to keep our personal information safe. The Canvasse Opinion survey found that 34 per cent of us do not trust insurance companies, 33 per cent think Internet retailers aren't secure and 32 per cent believe that government cannot be relied on to safeguard the data that can be used to impersonate us, borrow money in our names – and ruin our lives.
Read more on how to prevent identity theft or apply now for your Free Experian Credit Report.
Please be aware that people might try to follow you up using email scams based on this news. Be extra vigilant.
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