Cybercrime -would you hand YOUR email address to a stranger?

This is amazing. RPS was stunned to read this full article here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2640625/Would-hand-YOUR-email-address-stranger-Social-experiment-shows-fraudsters-use-crucial-information-just-minutes.html

A social experiment has shown how fraudsters can use your email address to find crucial information about you in just minutes.

Bar customers were convinced into writing their email on a fake mailing list, researchers used just email to find out private details about their targets, within minutes they had access to details about the lives of their 'victims', actors then used the information to pretend to be long-lost friends.

All were convinced - even though the actors were all complete strangers.

RPS says have a look at the video if you don't beleive us. The video shows the dangers of leaving yourself open to online ID fraud. 

The experiment showed how easy it is for fraudsters to find out a worrying level of personal information online - using just an email address. A team of actors set up a mailing list for bar customers, before using their email addresses to research their details online. Minutes later, they had gained so much private information on the individuals that they could convince them they had known them for years.

The set up: Ad agency Abundance targeted five unsuspecting customers in a bar after getting information about them from an email list. The project then searched the internet for information on their victims, before getting ready to approach them. It reveals how easy it is for a stranger to research individuals - and also highlights the worrying amount of personal details that can be found from just an email.

Stunt: The actors convinced their victims that they were old friends. After they found out what had happened, the prank victims were left shocked that the actors knew so much about them.

Tom visibly struggles to place his apparent old classmate, Richard, but remains polite and shakes his hand. Trusting and no reason to think this is a set up. Why should he?

One woman was captured holding her hands up to her face in shock, while another asked: 'So how did you know about all of that stuff?'

A group called The People’s ID Bot Project and London agency Abundance conducted the experiment after setting up an email list for drinkers and searching the web for information about them.

It was released after it was revealed last week that a cyber attack has compromised the details of 145 million eBay users.

The auction site has been blasted for an 'inexcusable delay' in taking action after its servers were hacked three months ago. Caroline Thomas, MD Identity, Experian Consumer Services, said: 'The video was produced by Experian as part of the ongoing online identity protection education strategy, with the goal of having Britons sit up and take notice how much of people's personally-identifiable information is freely available online, often without them even realising.

'This same information, in the wrong hands, could be used to commit identity fraud or sold on to other criminals, often without the victim knowing until after a crime has been committed.

'Cybercrime is becoming increasingly complex and organised so exercising caution and making some simple changes to your online behaviour are key to helping protect yourself from becoming a victim.'

RPS says read the full article and watch the video. Don't get caught out. Contact us at [email protected] for more information on how to protect yourself. 

 

Photo; thanks to computerhowstuffworks.com