FRAUD and identity theft can be reduced in Worcestershire by following certain steps like using a shredder and protecting your PIN at a cashpoint, say police.

Tips issued by West Mercia Police’s Economic Crime Unit include memorising your PIN as quickly as possible so you can destroy the hard copy from the bank, covering the keypad when entering your PIN number and keeping your bank card in close sight so the sales person cannot use details to create ‘cloned’ cards.

Customers using online banking should have the software necessary to protect personal information such as a firewall and virus checker and should not hand over their card details or PIN to a third party.

They should also beware of ‘phishing’, a name used to describe the efforts of criminals who send emails and messages, pretending to be from your bank or building society in an effort to persuade you to give details of your accounts, including PINs and passwords.

The final tip is to use a shredder to protect confidential information which could be obtained by someone going through a bin.

For more information on identity fraud and how to guard against it visit the force website westmercia.police.uk