>Royal Mail has announced it will be supporting this week’s ‘Get Safe Online Week’ with a special postmark
>Postmark follows the publication of Royal Mail research on the risk of ID fraud when home moving
>Research found that more than 1 in 10 (15%) home movers said they have received over 20 items of mail addressed to a former resident during the first month in their new home
>Half (52%) of those received sensitive financial mail such as a bank or credit card statements
>Get Safe Online Week aims to educate, inform and raise awareness of internet security issues
>The postmark will be applied to UK stamped mail throughout the week from Monday 19 October to Saturday 24 October 2015
>The postmark will say 'Get Safe Online Week, getsafeonline.org'
Royal Mail has announced that it is supporting this week’s ‘Get Safe Online Week’, from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 October, with a special postmark. The postmark follows the publication of Royal Mail research around the risk of ID fraud when home moving.
The research, involving 12,000 home movers, found that more than 1 in 10 (15%) had received in excess of 20 items of mail addressed to a former resident during the first month in their new home. Worryingly more than half (52%) had received sensitive financial mail. The findings are even more shocking given last Thursday’s ONS announcement that application fraud – which is linked to ID fraud - has increased by 14% in the last financial year.
Get Safe Online, which is in its tenth year, is a joint partnership between the Government, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Ofcom. This year’s week centres on the theme of ‘It’s Always Personal’. The campaign aims to educate, inform and raise awareness of internet security issues in order to encourage confident, safe use of the internet.
Royal Mail’s postmark will be applied to millions of UK stamped mail nationwide from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 October. It will say 'Get Safe Online Week getsafeonline.org'.
Jim Conning, Managing Director of Data Services, at Royal Mail, said: “We want to help raise awareness and protect consumers whether they are shopping online or moving home. With application fraud - when fraudsters open an account using fake or stolen documents in someone else's name - up by more than 10% - thousands of home movers are risking their identities and leaving themselves exposed to fraudulent loans and credit card applications.
“Without safeguarding your personal details online or taking out a Redirection Service, consumers have no control over about whose hands their details fall into.”
Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online Week, said: “As we spend more of our lives online, our digital footprints inevitably get bigger. Sadly, that means opportunist fraudsters will use information about us to make their scams more believable and difficult to detect. Being online offers so many great opportunities for everyone and we would never discourage anyone from enjoying and benefiting from them. However, we do urge people to take precautions so they don’t make themselves vulnerable to underhanded scammers.”
ENDS
Note to editors:
About Royal Mail plc
Royal Mail plc is the parent company of Royal Mail Group Limited, the leading provider of postal and delivery services in the UK and the UK’s designated universal postal service provider. UK Parcels, International and Letters (“UKPIL”) comprises the company’s UK and international parcels and letters delivery businesses operating under the “Royal Mail” and “Parcelforce Worldwide” brands. Through the Royal Mail Core Network, the company delivers a one-price-goes-anywhere service on a range of parcels and letters products. Royal Mail has the capability to deliver to more than 29 million addresses in the UK, six days a week (excluding UK public holidays). Parcelforce Worldwide operates a separate UK network which collects and delivers express parcels. Royal Mail also owns General Logistics Systems (GLS) which operates one of the largest ground-based, deferred parcel delivery networks in Europe.
About Get Safe Online Week
Now in its tenth year, the aim of Get Safe Online Week is to educate, inform and raise awareness of online security issues to make sure consumers and small businesses can use the internet safely and confidently. Partners and supporters are encourages to issue awareness posters, website banners and promote internet safety advice on social media. Local communities also get involved by setting up regional ‘Get Safe Online Week’ events to raise awareness of this pressing issue, and to play their part in protecting people of all ages from becoming victims of fraud, identity theft, abuse and other issues. For more information on Get Safe Online Week, please visit:
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About Get Safe Online
Get Safe Online (http://www.getsafeonline.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Opens in new window), which is now entering its tenth year, is the UK’s national internet security awareness initiative. A joint partnership between the Government, the National Crime Agency (NCA), Ofcom, and private sector sponsors from the worlds of technology, communications, retail and finance, the initiative continues to educate, inform and raise awareness of internet security issues to encourage confident, safe use of the internet. Get Safe Online is supported by the Cabinet Office, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), Home Office, Action Fraud, Ofcom, HSBC, Barclays, Gumtree, Symantec, Kaspersky Lab, Tesco, Bob’s Business, Creative Virtual, PayPal, Lloyds Banking Group, National Trading Standards eCrime Team, NatWest, Credit Suisse and Principality Building Society.