We spend so much time at work that we tend to regard it as a home from home. We personalise our work space – think photos, favourite mugs, even hideous fluffy toys – and we just assume that it is as safe as our own homes. We shouldn’t.
While we casually leave phones, jewellery, iPods and money lying on our desks, a survey from insurers Sheila’s Wheels has revealed that 15.3 million office workers in the UK may become victims of identity theft – by overtrusting their colleagues.
The survey found that:
• 83% of those surveyed claim to completely trust their colleagues
• 22% believe that their colleagues know as much about them as their closest friends
• 66% of office workers make private phone calls from their desks, openly disclosing personal information
• 20% have regularly overheard colleagues answer security questions, giving details of their mother’s maiden name, place of birth, and credit or debit card security codes
Staff are being overlooked, as well as overheard. Of those polled, 61% said that their computer screen was clearly visible to colleagues sitting nearby. This poses a real identity theft risk, with 36% of office workers using the internet for personal banking. Almost a million make online financial checks on a daily basis.
Bizarrely – and alarmingly – 3% (459,389) of employees admitted to letting a colleague use their bank or credit card for work purposes, even withdrawing money from an ATM on their behalf. And 14% use their office bins to dispose of private documents, such as utility bills, containing address information.
Sheila’s Wheels’ Jacky Brown says:
“Longer working hours, the rise in the dual income family and increasingly hectic lives are causing many Brits to manage their personal and household finances in the office rather than at home.But with such a lack of privacy in open plan workplaces, it’s crucial to protect your personal information at all times – not just from strangers but also from people you may have known for some time. Remove the temptation by keeping private phone calls, paperwork and finances just that – private.”
