Royal Bank of Scotland holds #notforsharing event to raise online fraud awareness

Thirty journalists, bloggers and influencers joined cinema goers for a special event hosted by Royal Bank of Scotland. Thinking they were just attending a film screening, audience members were shown an ‘ethical hack’ short film which displayed their own personal information, which they had previously posted online via social media and other online platforms. The short film was produced by the Royal Bank of Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC).

The event, which was themed ‘#notforsharing’, aimed to raise awareness of online security issues and to demonstrate how easy it is to share personal details online.

The event followed the release of research by Royal Bank of Scotland, in partnership with YouGov, which showed that one in six Scots are victims of online fraud.

The research also revealed that:

• Only 39% of young people aged 18-34 in Scotland are worried about being the victim online fraud in the next 12 months
• Nearly one in six (16%) online Scots admit to having already fallen victim to online fraudsters. Some studies show, in cases where the public are defrauded of money, the average scam victim loses £6,000
• 85% of 18-24 year-olds in Scotland would feel comfortable sharing their personal information online with a person they know (e.g. a friend, colleague etc.)
• 66% of 18-24 year-olds in Scotland with a bank account feel secure entering card details on an app on a smart phone or tablet
• 31% of young people in Scotland aged 18 to 24 say that they wouldn't know what to do if they were experiencing online security problems
• Just over one in four people in Scotland (26%) aged 18 to 34 say that they always restrict what they share on social media in order to avoid revealing personal information
• Only 39% of young people aged 18-34 in Scotland are worried about becoming a victim of online fraud in the next 12 months, despite one in six people across Scotland having already fallen victim to online fraudsters.
• Despite online banking passwords and PIN numbers being the most obvious form of digital protection, one in six (17%) of young people in Scotland aged 18-24 admit to having shared their online banking password / pin with someone in the past.