CV personal details can lead to ID theft

Candidates for jobs have been warned to watch out for fake job ads as it was revealed that many CVs held enough personal information for ID theft to occur.

In an experiment supported by the Metropolitan Police and the Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC), online CV service iProfile ran a job advert for a fictional company in a national newspaper called Denis Atlas', an anagram of steal an id'. A simple Google search would lead you to a website telling them it was a fake company.

Former identity thief Bob Turney analysed the 107 CVs which were sent in, and discovered that the vast majority had enough information for ID theft to occur. With a claim that three out of 15 pieces of information was needed to commit identity fraud, the average CV contained eight pieces.

Turney said: "Whilst 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."

Of the CVs sent in, 61 (57 per cent) contained a date of birth even though it wasn't anymore a requirement, 98 (91.5 per cent) contained a full address, and 20 (19 per cent) put others at risk by providing full details of references. Astonishingly, one included their passport and national insurance numbers.

As unemployment rises in the UK the numbers of CVs over the internet was only going to increase, but applicants were urged to make sure they knew where their personal details were going to avoid their identities being cloned.