Job hunters warned to secure their CVs to protect against identity theft

As thousands flood onto the jobs market, a controlled experiment by iProfile.org shows people are exposing themselves to identity theft risk

Job hunters are being warned to secure their CVs after experts showed how freely people share their resumes with strangers, effectively handing over all the information criminals need to steal their identity.

In a controlled experiment, supported by the Metropolitan Police and the Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC http://www.iaac.org.uk), iProfile.org placed a job advert for a fictional company in a national newspaper, inviting people to apply by emailing their CV. The advert was run during the National Identity Fraud Prevention week. Anyone carrying out a simple web search for the company – ëDenis Atlasí, an anagram of ësteal an idí - would have found a website telling them the company was fake. In just one week, 107 CVs were received in response to the job advert. iProfile enlisted the help of reformed identity thief, Bob Turney, to analyse the CVs and discovered that the vast majority contained enough information for an identity theft to occur.

Rick Bacon, CEO of iProfile, said: ìWith tens of thousands of people flooding onto the job market every week, the threat of CV identity theft should be at the forefront of peoplesí minds. Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the UK and sending your CV without first checking out where itís going or masking your personal details is akin to giving an ID fraudster your life history on a plate. We were shocked to find that 68% of people sent their CV into our fake job advert without doing any background checks first.î

Reformed identity theft criminal, Bob Turney, said: ìWhilst many people now routinely shred things like bank statements and utility bills, they still seem happy to send their CVs to complete strangers. They need to realise just how easy it is to use the information in a CV to set up a bank account or take out a credit card fraudulently.î

Typically, criminals need just three out of fifteen key pieces of information to commit identity fraud – the average CV received as part of the experiment contained eight pieces of information. 61 CVs (57%) included a date of birth, despite this no longer being a requirement due to age discrimination laws, and 98 (91.5%) included a full address. A further 20 (19%) put others at risk by providing full details of references. One even included the applicantís passport number and national insurance details.

iProfile (www.iprofile.org) conducted the experiment as part of its ëSecure Your CVí campaign and has released advice on how people can protect themselves against identity theft from their CVs. It includes tips, such as excluding things like date of birth and home addresses from your CV as this is usually not needed by potential employers. It also advises people to check out the company online and ensure they have a bona fide telephone number and postal address.

Bacon also argues that hosting your CV securely on the Internet, using a reputable online CV provider can be much safer than posting or emailing a traditional word document: ìOnce you post or email a traditional CV, you have very little control over it. Thereís nothing to stop someone photocopying it or sending it on to others. At iProfile we allow people to hold their CV online in a secure environment. Jobseekers can send a link to their iProfile CV to trusted contacts who can then only access the information by logging in. iProfile holders can hide a relevant section of their CV, to prevent people seeing their personal information and use phone masking services to protect their phone numbersî.

Bacon emphasises that choosing a reputable provider is crucial when placing your CV online: ìThere are many people who just place their CV online in an unsecured manner – for example by setting up their own simple webpage. Weíd caution against this as it can expose them to identity fraud. Stick to the established providers who invest in security and processes to protect your information online.î

Support for the ëSecure Your CVí campaign:

Detective Superintendent Russell Day from the Economic and Specialist Crime Command, Metropolitan Police, said: We are happy to support any campaign which aims to raise awareness of the growing threat of online identity fraud. We advise everyone not to post personal details on the internet which could collectively be used to clone your identity. This new campaign is an excellent method which could help prevent identity fraud and most importantly, protect you and your CV.

Neil Fisher, Vice President, IAAC, adds his support: ìIdentity fraud is a hugely serious issue and any campaign that raises awareness of the dangers should be commended. Many people are happy to send their CVs ëblindí without thinking about the consequences if their information fell into the wrong hands. Hopefully this campaign will help people better understand the risks involved and better protect the personal information on their CV in the future.î