News

New research shows 40% of lost baggage goes unclaimed at UK airports.

The high numbers of British travellers not claiming lost luggage is being put down to the fact that many are keen to forget the hassle of reclaiming bags and prefer to just claim for the expense on their insurance.

However, travellers are being warned that their laziness could leave them open to identity fraud.

After three months, unclaimed items are auctioned off and any data left on mobile phones, PDAs or laptops are available to the highest bidder.

Peter Larsson, chief executive of Pointsec, which carried out the research, said: ' Mobile devices are cheap these days, so people can't be bothered to reclaim them.

'Often people do not realise how valuable their information can be to others such as hackers, competitors or thieves.'

He explained that identity theft affected an estimated 100,000 people a year, costing in the region of £1.7 billion in the UK alone.

The research found that around the world reclaim rates for laptops were high with 100% in Sweden being returned to owners in airports while mobile phone owners are much less likely to try to be reunited with their handsets. In Brisbane no mobile phones handed into lost property were reclaimed and only 60 per cent were in Sweden.


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