UK Ferry Tickets

Identity fraud. Two words to strike joy into the heart of anyone plying their trade on the high street and refusing to get involved in that ‘www nonsense’.

The over-50s, according to recent reports, are getting more concerned about fraud, particularly over the Internet, and are drifting back to traditional shopping habits.

But are we all over-reacting to a few crooks who are making a fast buck online?

There’s no doubt that fraud has increased. I was recently a victim myself when I looked at my bank account online and discovered that two big withdrawals had taken place in Dubai (I’d been in the far less glamorous location of Shoreditch while that happened).

Yes, it was slightly alarming. But the bank was very helpful, sorted it out and refunded the money.

And that’s the point. If you take sensible precautions, you are not likely to be out of pocket in the event of something going wrong.

Also, if you do shop on the high street, you’re not immune to having someone plunder your account. You could easily have your card cloned in a store and used by a fraudster (this has also happened to me).

Certainly, the crooks are not going to stop me from shopping over the Internet. I just make sure that I use reputable sites that have protection.

Oh, one other thing. If you’re still getting those badly written letters offering you several million pounds for handling someone’s estate in Ghana (all you have to do is send over a few thousand pounds for administration), then ignore them.

You’ll not be surprised to hear that once they’ve had the money, you never hear from them again.

I’m amazed that people fall for these tricks, but they do. Remember the golden rule: if it looks to good to be true, it is.

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Sunday, December 9th, 2007