Report shows connection between increase in ID theft to rise in smarthphone use

Tweeting your personal information is not just annoying. It’s risky.

An annual Identity Fraud Report from Javelin Strategy & Research shows that there was a 13-percent increase in the number of identity fraud incidents since last year's study, according to The Consumerist.

The report also found that 7 percent of smartphone owners were victims of ID fraud, which is significantly higher than the normal rate.

Javelin said the uptick in fraud cases among smartphone owners is due to the 62 percent of users who said they don’t use a password or code on the home screens of their phones, and 32 percent said they save login information on their devices.

Another factor is the 68 percent whose public profiles on social networks contain a basic birthday, which is simply a day and month. Another 45 percent include the year.

Students are also putting themselves at risk, with 63 percent including their high school name on their social network.

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