If you're scouring your home for old tech you can sell while the cost of living is squeezed, you need to make sure you don't fall prey to scammers.
According to the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, each household in the UK may currently have up to 31 electrical appliances sitting unused and collecting dust.
Gumtree's research shows that the website's response to technologies such as mobiles and tablets is exceeding its listings, indicating a strong market for already-loved devices. Selling unwanted technology isn't just good for your bank balance, it can also be positive for the planet.
Tony Sales, a former fraudster who now uses his knowledge to help prevent financial crime, says many people may not realize how many cash-generating devices or “hidden treasures” there are lying around their homes. But while there are many positive aspects to technology reselling, it's easy to forget just how much personal information is stored on these devices.
Sales, co-founder of crime prevention experts We Fight Fraud, explains: “Most people don’t use pins or passwords, such as passwords or driver’s licenses, to take photos. The harder life gets, the more we have to do this. If I don't destroy the information on the device, someone like my old self, Tony, can come and get that important information.
“Credit checks are conducted on basic information such as your name, date of birth, and address. There are three key pieces of information, all of which are located on your driver's license photo. or documents sent online that contain personal information.”
If you've uploaded information to a device you want to sell or recycle, “you need to make sure you destroy it first,” he says.
Sales adds: “We all have apps, and that includes banking apps and all these types of things, so we need to get rid of all that information.”
When you remove personal information from your device, it is important to make sure that information is gone forever. That way, the information can't be retrieved again so a criminal with the right know-how can't use it to continue to commit fraud. Sales warns that the process for wiping a device's information can vary, and that a standard factory reset may not be enough for some devices.
He suggests people take the time to research their devices and look at the manufacturer's advice. Recycle Your Electricals has also updated its own guide to data deletion on its website with the help of its sales team.
Sales continue. “It may take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to get that information from your device. Sometimes it's very fast and sometimes it's a bit complicated. And I know that none of us want to sit down and do this. We all have better things we can do.
“But the reality is that if you do it now and take your critical time, you may not have to spend months resolving issues that arise because fraudsters can steal funds from your bank account. You left it on a device you didn't even realize was there.
“I cannot sufficiently enforce that it is very important to destroy that information. Always make sure you are destroying information rather than deleting it. It's about understanding what criminals can attack when it comes to data, and making sure we all take responsibility for our data and eliminate it. “What we really need to be conscious of is putting our information into other people’s hands.”
Of course, not everyone is tech-savvy. However, you may have someone in your family you trust that you can ask for help in doing this. To avoid losing anything important, it's also important to remember to back up all important files before logging out of all accounts on your device, Sales adds. Don't forget to remove the SIM or memory stick from your device as well.
And even if you don't plan on selling your device right now, it's worth considering how you can keep your personal information safe. The sales team suggests maintaining “good cyber hygiene,” including keeping your mobile information locked behind a password and pin.