Job seekers need to be wary about what information goes onto the CVs they submit to employers websites and job search sites, after the Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC) and the Police teamed up to show how easily personal information could be gathered by criminals hoping to commit identity fraud.

Online CV provider iProfile set up a website for a fake company called Denis Atlas with bogus job vacancie. The IAAC and Metropolitan Police backed the campaign, which coincided with national identity fraud protection week, and 107 people uploaded CVs that contained enough personal information to commit identity theft.

Denis Atlas placed an advert in a national newspaper for an office manager job, inviting candidates to submit their CVs. A more detailed search of the website would have revealed it was in fact a fake, but 68% of the applicants without doing any background checks.

Rick Bacon, CEO of iProfile said "With tens of thousands of people flooding onto the job market every week, the threat of CV identity theft should be at the forefront of people's mind. Identity theft is on of the fastest-growing crimes in the UK and sending your CV without first checking out where it's going or masking your personal details is akin to giving an ID fraudster your life history on a plate."
 

The CVs which were submitted contained an average of eight different pieces of information which would assist a fraudster to commit identity theft. Typically, three out of fifteen key pieces of personal information are needed to commit identity fraud. Unnecessary inclusions were date of birth, providing full details of references, passport number and even national insurance details. The most useful to identity thieves are date of birth, place of birth and marital status, according to iProfile.