Keep your eye on the (credit info) ball

At a time when we live so much of our life online, it's important to stay vigilant as to where and with whom you share certain types of personal information and data, so that you don't run the risk of it falling into the hands of unsavoury types who might then use it for fraudulent purposes.

You wouldn't expect to see your passport number floating around on social media – which is what recently befell members of the England football squad about to embark on their campaign for glory in Brazil.

As has been well documented, the team sheet circulated in the Miami media centre prior to England's warm-up match against Ecuador contained each player's name, date of birth and passport number.

A photo of the team sheet was unwittingly tweeted by one of England's sponsor, and although it was swiftly deleted, it had already been re-tweeted and shared online a number of times.

In addition, the signatures of skipper Frank Lampard, who had signed off the team list, and director of England team operations Michelle Farrar, were also visible on the list.

Keeping a close eye on our personal credit information is something we could all benefit from, and there are a number of simple things we can all do to help protect our identities online, and help avoid becoming a victim to identity theft.

Think about how much information you really need to share on social media, as fraudsters can use personal details like date of birth, age, maiden names or even seemingly unimportant information like your children's or even pet's names to guess private passwords or PINs.

Your credit report can highlight irregularities such as suspect applications for credit and rises in card balances. With Experian CreditExpert membership you can get unlimited views of your Experian credit report, which shows credit activity in your name so you can spot potentially fraudulent activity.

CreditExpert's web monitoring tool will monitor the internet for mentions of your personal information 24/7, sending you an instant notification if your information is found somewhere new online. This helps ensure you can take immediate steps to resolve any potential fraudulent activity before you are negatively affected.

Content / Article provided by Experian – links to Experian CreditExpert are placed for promotional purposes