Mobile Phone Fraud On The Rise

According to recent reports CIFAS (the Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System) have more work than ever before, with confirmed cases of mobile phone fraud rising by three-quarters in the first half of this year.  As more mobile services become available, and the phones themselves carry more information, it’s possible to inflict far worse damage than a few prank calls – criminals can crib enough information to access your credit.  Brand new phones, free calls, online purchases, all this and more could be theirs.  The bills are still yours.  Avoid the problem with these simple steps.

They might arrive after work when the last thing you want to do is stare at more numbers, especially ones which say you owe money, but buried in the itemized bill is all the information you need to avoid rip-offs.  Not just ID-scamming crooks, but the “legal” businesses who’ll start charging you five pounds a month after you try out a “free” service – many exist entirely because most people don’t check their invoices.  They survive by harvesting the carelessness of users.  Don’t pay for what you don’t want.

Assuming you haven’t already upgraded to online billing, those paper statements of your account and bill?  They contain loads of information about your account and bill!  Crazy, right?  Make sure to shred (or more reasonably at least rip to little bits) before tossing them out.

Sure, this is “Your starter for duh“, but it’s astonishing how many give out account information in hopes of faster service, free internet, or any number of other utopian electronic promises.