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Who’s been phishing in my dustbin? |
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
According to researchers at Crédoc (Centre de recherche
pour l’étude et l’observation des conditions de vie), 80%
of private dustbins in the Île de France contain information that
could be useful to fraudsters, with 20% giving details about
bank accounts. They urge people to be more careful.
All a criminal needs is your place and date of birth, for
example, to apply to the mairie for a copy of your birth
certificate. With this, they can report the loss of ‘their’ papers
to the police. Armed with the declaration of loss, the authentic
birth certificate and some bills, they can obtain a passport, a
driver’s licence or identity card. The number of applications for
lost papers has risen sharply. They estimate that 20% of driving
licences and 10% of ID cards are false.
False papers are in demand for illegal immigrants,
and those with a criminal record or who simply
want a new life. Often the perpetrators know their victims and
will typically choose someone they knew at school.
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