Germany Almost ID Theft Free – Paranoia Responsible?
Is the German insistence on online security the reason German consumers have much less ID fraud than English speaking buyers? Paypal recently commissioned a survey which revealed that 1 in 10 shoppers in the US, UK and Canada are identity theft victims, compared to 1 in 20 in Germany, Spain and France.
E-commerce in Germany is equivalent to that in the UK, which puts paid to Paypal’s suggestion that ID theft “tends to occur in countries where a higher percentage of e-commerce is concentrated”. Why then do the Germans have such a low incidence of ID theft?
Paranoia Reigns
There is no denying that the German government and news media is much more involved in making the public aware of security risks. The new internet browser ‘Chrome’, presented by Google, was banned in Germany due to potential user security issues, and you cannot disable ‘SafeSearch’ in Germany either. The German government is heavily involved in fighting cyber crime, which affects only 3% of German users.
In addition, German internet users don’t share their info as readily, even with spouses or family members. Americans have a tendency to share their password information even with friends. Many Americans and Brits also use too easily hacked passwords, such as DOB, names of pets, or even ‘password’ as their password – even for financial and banking information.
In contrast, Germans are extremely reticent about sharing information, and suspicious of any internet activity that they have not seen certified as safe. They look to their government to regulate much of the allowable internet options, which has led to more internet sites and tools being banned in Germany than any other major European country.
Germany Has a Point
English speakers could learn something from Germany; you don’t have to stop using Chrome or give up buying online, but a few simple steps can help keep your identity safer!
When using social sites, refrain from putting too much personal information out there. When setting passwords, come up with something unique that only you would know – a random combination of letters and numbers is best, and you can even make up a story to help you remember.
This can be absurdly simple, such as 3pgs1wlf (three pigs and one wolf) and can be easy to remember while almost impossible for a hacker to break. Change it often, and monitor all of your accounts to be sure there is no unauthorized activity! We don’t have to be as paranoid as some, but we can take simple steps to protect our identities and our pocketbooks from fraud.
