69% of Britons entering competitions risk being scammed after sharing their personal details without checking whether the offer is legitimate, according to research from the Nationwide Building Society.
The research, which surveyed 2,000 British adults, found just 31% say they routinely check to determine whether an offer is real or fraudulent before entering private information such as their name, address and date of birth.
63% of of Brits have previously entered private information such as their name, address and date of birth to enter a competition. Of these, 69% have done so without any due diligence checks, according to the poll.
22% said they would consider giving all three key pieces of information (name, address, date of birth) to stand a chance of grabbing an offer – enough to give a fraudster a head-start on impersonating someone.
According to the poll, 18-to-24-year-olds are four times more likely to give out their personal details on a cold call than those aged 55 and above, while they are also almost three times as likely as 35-to-44-year-olds to give their bank details to an unfamiliar website when shopping online.
However, most understand that sharing their bank details (86%), date of birth (62%), home address (58%) and email address (42%) could put them at risk of fraud.
The Nationwide says this is perhaps why 38% say they ended up regretting sharing their personal information.
Stuart Skinner, director of fraud at Nationwide Building Society, added: “It’s great news that consumers are aware of what personal information they shouldn’t share. But as our research shows, Brits are much more willing to take a risk with their personal information if they think there is a bargain to be had. It’s very easy to be swept away with the prize on offer and not stop to think whether it is valid. Our advice is, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is, so it’s wise to be suspicious.
“People should take a bit of time to do some research and check the source is valid, particularly if it’s a website they are using for the first time. Nationwide, like all banks and building societies, uses a wide range of measures to keep its customers’ money safe, but knowing how to protect yourself is by far the most effective way to avoid becoming another statistic.”