•67,000 victims of identify in 2006 – CIFAS 2006

•Identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7bn per annum – Home Office

•97% of households, representing over 21 million homes in the UK, regularly dispose of materials stating their full name, sex, title, address and postcode – Bin Raiding research 2006 completed by WastesWork and commissioned by Fellowes

•Average losses range from almost £2,000 on a credit card to more than £7,000 on a current account, but the disruption suffered by those whose identities have been stolen and misused is devastating

•Over 10,000 fraudulent passport applications each year - UK Passport Service (UKPS)

Not only is it Best Practice to shred financial, personal and company paperwork before disposal, it is also the law!
Principle 7: Data Security; The Data Protection Act requires that appropriate security measures be in place to safeguard against unauthorised or unlawful access/processing of personal data.

In 2002, Experian, the Credit Reference Agency, found that;

94% of business threw out documents containing their own names & addresses
20% had thrown out their bank details
44% threw out a whole utility bill
41% threw away financial records
61% threw out a document with a signature on it (24% had a directors signature)



A Populus poll, commissioned by Fellowes in 2006, shows that:

• 93% of businesses said they take the issue of identity fraud seriously.

• 91% of businesses said they shred documents containing sensitive or personal information such as home addresses, bank account details or credit card numbers, before disposing of them.

• 89% of businesses claim to have clear guidelines on how to treat sensitive or personal information – such as home addresses, bank account details or credit card numbers – about other employees or customers.

• 88% of businesses said they have issued clear guidelines to staff explaining how different types of waste – including sensitive or personal information – should be disposed of.

Yet despite what they say, the bin raiding research, also commissioned by Fellowes and completed by WastesWork in London, revealed that:

  • 79% of businesses sampled had not made any effort to destroy sensitive material that was thrown away or prepared for recycling.
  • Only 4% had successfully destroyed all sensitive information.
  • 30% of businesses threw away information that would be useful to competitors.
  • 40% of businesses threw away sensitive client information including home addresses, phone numbers and photocopies of passports.
  • 30% of businesses threw away personal information relating to employees including home contact details.

There is clear divide between the steps businesses believe they are taking to prevent identity fraud, and what is happening in reality. Businesses need to ensure that best practice is in place to protect both their businesses and their customers.

Tyron Hill, Marketing Director, Fellowes, said: “It is absolutely vital that businesses take more care when disposing of personal or confidential information. To simply throw it in a bin without destroying it is putting your business and your customers at grave risk from identity fraudsters. It is time for everyone to get wise to identity fraud - too many businesses are still being complacent about the risks.”