Fraudsters raid bins: Report

[LazyLion]

Banks, retailers, cellphone stores and travel agents are throwing clients' personal information in trash bins at shopping malls making it easy for fraudsters to steal identities, Saturday Star reported.

Bank details, credit card forms with signatures, copies of IDs and mortgage documents, all supposedly on their way to a landfill, were found in the bins.

Specialist fraud investigator Duncan Waugh took the newspaper on a tour of the bins.

There they found a number of documents, including a confidential affidavit to confirm an address with details of a home-owner, his ID number and signature along with certified copies of the client's ID, according to the report.

Then there were full details of an external transfer of money amounting to R400,000 with signed instruction forms, the ID copies of the sender, proof of address and the recipient's full details.

Areas where the personal and sensitive client information was picked up included Cresta, Rosebank, Sandton, Protea Glen and Southdale, the newspaper reported.

The information gathered was enough to allow fraudsters to open bank accounts, buy goods, illegally apply for credit, or access medical aids in your name.

Waugh said he believed the action of "raiding bins" was behind the country's identity theft.

"The big corporates are putting their customers at risk in direct violation of the Constitution's right to privacy," he was quoted as saying.


Source : Sapa /gq/mr
Date : 02 Nov 2013 09:48

 

[noxibox]

That demonstrates incredible laziness.

 

[LazyLion]

That demonstrates incredible laziness.

Yes, it does, but on the other hand incinerators are costly and pollutant. Shredders are slow and not always completely thorough. The bigger shredders are not cheap either.

 

[Grant]

Intelligence agencies & private investigators have been doing this forever - they are going to be upset

It even has a name : Garbology !

 

[noxibox]

Yes, it does, but on the other hand incinerators are costly and pollutant. Shredders are slow and not always completely thorough. The bigger shredders are not cheap either.

Shredders are not that slow, and I'd consider them a relatively minor expense. Especially as these companies are risking their clients lives and money. Shredders don't have to be completely thorough, but they do add a level of deterrence. It is much more work to retrieve all the shreds and put them back together. My own shredded documentation goes into a worm farm where it is fairly rapidly converted into compost.

 

[MKFrost]

Never mind all the forms/details that are thrown away, just think of all those files containing all the FICA details. I can think of at least 4 companies who has copies of my ID, bank statements, utility bills etc....

And I'm pretty sure those files are not locked in a safe and that any employee could access them quite easily.

 

[koeksGHT]

Shredders are not that slow, and I'd consider them a relatively minor expense. Especially as these companies are risking their clients lives and money. Shredders don't have to be completely thorough, but they do add a level of deterrence. It is much more work to retrieve all the shreds and put them back together. My own shredded documentation goes into a worm farm where it is fairly rapidly converted into compost.

+1 even a black bag you just burn in a metal bin is easy and free.... no excuse

 

[Sonic2k]

Intelligence agencies & private investigators have been doing this forever - they are going to be upset

It even has a name : Garbology !

Actually this kind of thing was pioneered by hackers, called "dumpster diving"

 

[NeonNinja]

Why I never see them?

 

[Celine]

and these banks want to claim no responsibility for the present fraudulent theft on people's bank accounts? especially when thieves are getting hold of their clients account numbers etc so easily. now we see why.

 

[Paul_S]

That demonstrates incredible laziness.

No, this demonstrates gross negligence!
As a client I expect banks and business to dispose any personal information in a safe and secure manner.
I shred all my personal documentation and although it's not a cross cut shredder it's a lot better than nothing.

 

[MKFrost]

I see a business opportunity....

Get say 100 unemployed people. Put them all in a large hanger with security supervision. Collect all the discarded confidential documents from the banks. Issue each person with a normal hand punch i.e. those you use to punch holes in a sheet before filing it. Give each a couple of bags full of the discarded documents and let them make confetti for weddings.