New survey shows New Zealanders are at serious risk of identity theft and financial fraud

A new survey shows nearly one-third of New Zealanders always throw bank and credit card statements in the rubbish without destroying them, despite this being one of the key risk factors of identity theft.

The national poll, conducted for Unisys by Consumer Link, also found that a similar proportion, 29 per cent of people, never read the privacy policies of organisations they deal with.

“New Zealanders across the board are taking steps to protect themselves and enhance the security of their personal information,” said Graham Alston, Partner Global Financial Services, Unisys New Zealand. “However, despite the positive steps taken by most New Zealanders, a significant number continue to expose themselves unnecessarily to the risk of identity theft and fraud.”

Twenty-nine per cent of those surveyed said they always threw confidential bank and credit card statements into the bin without first destroying or shredding them.

The poll results are disturbing given the fact that identity theft and financial fraud is often perpetrated through seemingly innocuous means, including retrieval of financial papers from rubbish bins.

Whilst the majority of New Zealanders are obviously taking proactive steps to protect themselves against fraud, a significant number are leaving themselves vulnerable.

A further 10 per cent of New Zealanders said they always rely on easy to remember numbers such as their birthday when creating a Personal Identification Number (PIN).

The survey, conducted in conjunction with the New Zealand Unisys Security Index, asked the following questions:

Please tell me whether you do each of the following always, sometimes or never?
1. Before placing them in the bin you shred or rip up your bank statements, bills or other items containing personal information
Always – 48 per cent
Sometimes – 20 per cent
Never – 29 per cent
Don’t know – 3 per cent.

2. You read the privacy policies of organisations you have dealings with, such as banks, other companies or government departments
Always – 28 per cent
Sometimes – 42 per cent
Never – 29 per cent
Don’t know – 1 per cent.

3. When asked to provide a security PIN, you use an easy to remember number, such as your birthday
Always – 10 per cent
Sometimes – 12 per cent
Never – 76 per cent
Don’t know – 2 per cent.

Identity theft and its financial consequences can be devastating for individuals so it is important that people undertake preventative measures to protect themselves.

Unisys has developed a series of tips which are simple and easy to follow, which will make it harder for identity theft to take place.

These are available on our website at http://www.unisys.co.nz/eprise/main/admin/country/doc/nz/FinancialTipSheet.pdf

ENDS
MLQ
Unisys on Security
Organisations and governments today confront potential security threats that didn’t exist a decade ago, or, if they did, were not thought of as credible. The issues and potential solutions are complex. The Unisys approach to security is differentiated from that of our competitors in that we take a broader set of political, economic and consumer forces into account. Our approach to security is beyond ‘bits and bytes’ to reflect a multi-dimensional security ‘ecosystem’, with many inter-related interests, and in which the most effective solutions are going to be those formed through collaboration between stakeholders – business, government and consumers. For more information visit www.unisys.com.au/services/security/security__resource__centre/index.htm and www.unisys.co.nz/services/security/index.htm.
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide technology services and solutions company. Our consultants apply Unisys expertise in consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure, and server technology to help our clients achieve secure business operations. We build more secure organisations by creating visibility into clients’ business operations. Using the Unisys 3D Visible Enterprise approach, we make visible the impact of their decisions – ahead of investments, opportunities and risks. In Asia Pacific, Unisys delivers services and solutions through subsidiaries in New Zealand, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

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