More individuals turn to identity fraud scams as economy flounders

The new figures, released by CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, show fraud trends over the first three months of this year.

Details for the first quarter of the year show that while much fraud has long, well-established, links with organised criminal gangs, frauds perpetrated by individual applicants and account holders are increasing.

There has been a 62.5 per cent increase in frauds where people lie or present false documents in order to buy goods or get credit.

A spokesman for CIFAS said: “This is, likely to be driven by economic circumstances, with some individuals feeling that they have no choice but to attempt to con their way to obtain the products and services that they think they need.”

Overall, however the figures reveal a dip of 13 per cent in identity fraud, in comparison with the same period last year and a fall of almost 7.5 per cent in overall fraud, including crimes such making false insurance claims and using a person’s account to launder money.

However people were warned to remain vigilant.

Although identity fraud figures have dropped, 60 per cent were only spotted after the application had been successful, demonstrating the ability of fraudsters to gather comprehensive personal data on their victims.

Richard Hurley, CIFAS communications manager, said: “As previously indicated by CIFAS, falling fraud levels must not be taken at face value, especially in the confused economic climate that currently prevails.

“The economic situation is far from clear and, because fraudsters adapt their methods to economic conditions, the fraud picture is equally volatile.

“The trends identified in the first three months of 2011, alone, already demonstrate notable changes from last year – and further changes are only to be expected as the business climate evolves.”

People are urged to shred documents containing personal details; be careful what details they put online and ensure nobody is looking over their shoulder when entering pin numbers.