A gift to scammers: why you should probably keep your birthday a secret

Using a fake DOB or leaving the field blank when making an online account can offer protection from identity theft

You get a call from your bank saying there has been suspicious activity on your account. They read out your name, address and date of birth so you are happy it is a legitimate caller.

But you are talking to criminals who have used your date of birth as part of a web of verifying information to convince you they are someone else.

Now cybersecurity professionals have warned people to resist entering a date of birth, or to put in a fake one, to limit the amount of personal data that is online, frustrating criminals’ attempts to “jigsaw” together personal profiles.