Buzzin TV

Identity Fraud: Outnumbered, BBC1, Thursday 9pm

I always view this type of program with slight cynicism as I feel the producers nearly always go for the sensationalist angle rather than actually providing insightful aid in helping us deal with whatever it is they are scaremongering.

However I decided to watch because both of  the adults in my household of erm..  2 adults! have been the victim of identity fraud, and although the repercussions weren’t as extreme as the case studies on last night’s show, we both found that coping with the aftermath of this type of crime is both time consuming and emotional.

My conclusion was that scaremongering was definitely the order of the day.   We found out that people rifling through your rubbish and looking over your shoulder at the cash point are probably the least of your worries!

If you don’t buy specialist equipment to wipe your old computer hard drive before discarding it then you may as well be handing these criminals a folder containing your bank details, name, address, DOB and your family photo albums as a bonus!

Anyone daring to use a laptop in a public place are giving open access to wi-fi snipers, and an innocent purchase via the Internet could leave you branded a paedophile!

The advice given wasn’t completely useless - wipe your hard drives, use regularly updated firewalls and anti-virus software, cross shred all personal documents and don’t declare all your personal details on social networking sites - but it was nothing new.

To conclude I feel that in today’s consumer society fueled by greed, arrogance and self-preservation this type of crime can only increase and we will not only be scared to leave the house in case we are set upon by gangs of teenagers brandishing knives, we will also end up fearing the modern technology in our own homes.