Danger of drivers’ doorstep photos

WHEN a driver drops off a parcel at your home they are told to take a picture of it on your doorstep as evidence of delivery.

I’m sure many readers have seen the driver arrive, then open the door and take the parcel from the driver. Then you let them take a photo of it in their hands.

Well, you must STOP doing it now, here’s why:

Sean, from Derby, had a shock when he tried to get a mortgage.

His application was swiftly rejected on the basis he had recently defaulted on several personal loans. This was strange as he did not have any personal loans.

Fraudster

His mortgage broker advised him to look at his credit file. It then became clear what had happened – his identity had been stolen and the fraudster had gone on a spending spree, taking out loans and credit in his name.

Sean’s story then took an even more interesting turn.

Further investigation showed the fraudster had used a photo of Sean to prove his identity when making the loan applications.

Sean wondered if the photo had been lifted from somewhere online but this was not the case.

It has now transpired that photographs was actually taken by a courier while delivering a parcel to Sean. Sean cannot pinpoint the exact date this happened.

But he did say he often took personal delivery of parcels on his doorstep and allowed the courier to take a picture of him holding the parcel to prove delivery.

This is why I will never do this again and I urge you to adopt the same rule. Even if the delivery driver is a familiar face, as he regularly delivers to your address and you therefore deem him/her trustworthy, you do not know who else may subsequently have access to the drivers’ photographs.

While talking about avoiding scams I want to remind you of the importance of controlling who has possession of your personal data.

There is a great free tool offered by www.right.ly to control this.