Warning as cases of identity fraud soar by 11pc

The trend is worrying because cases had previously fallen across the country in the last six months of 2010 and last night people and businesses were warned that fraudsters are constantly looking for new scams and opportunities to trick their victims.

Fears have also been raised that as attention turns to ensuring the UK’s economic recovery, further damage could be wreaked when businesses feel more confident to lend and fraudsters start trying to exploit people’s identities in order to gain credit and or buy goods.

In the last six months of last year, 46,609 cases of identity fraud were recorded by CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service. Between January and the end of June this year, however, cases had risen to 51,796.

Richard Hurley, CIFAS communications manager, said: “Someone’s personal and financial details are like a licence to print money for the modern fraudster.

“Whether they were obtained digitally or physically, the fact that over a half of all frauds in some way relate to the misuse of other people’s personal details clearly underlines the severity of this threat.”

An investigation by the Yorkshire Post earlier this year showed cases of identity fraud across Yorkshire rose by 13 per cent in the first nine months of 2010, when compared with the same period in 2009.

The latest figures from CIFAS are highlighted in its latest Fraudscape Bulletin, which finds a rise in the number of frauds linked to credit and store cards, savings accounts and mobile phone accounts.

It says: “Using the identity of another person is the preferred method of fraudsters in 2011.

“Some of this may be due to the continued stringent lending criteria applied by organisations, meaning that fraudsters use the identity of another person with a good credit rating in order to obtain bank accounts, plastic cards and so on.”

However, it says some of the increase is likely to be linked to a variety of online scams, such as where criminals send out phishing emails falsely claiming to be from banks or others asking for personal details.

There has been a 60 per cent increase in frauds targeting communication products such as mobile phones.

Crooks are getting smartphones using somebody else’s identity and, as they are valuable, selling them on. In other cases, bills are being run up in the name of another, which remain unpaid.

The latest figures also reveal savings accounts have increasingly been targeted – which is being linked to organised crime and money laundering.

It adds that the advent of chip and pin technology and more checks on those opening current accounts has led fraudsters to look for new options, such as opening savings accounts, to move money around in the name of another person with a clean background. Bank accounts, however, remained a favoured target.

The report says “With financial criminals needing to move funds through the financial system in order to attempt to ‘hide’ their funds, savings accounts become increasingly popular – due in part to the perceived ‘low risk’ attached to them. “

Mr Hurley added: “What Fraudscape Bulletin demonstrates is that the volatility in fraud previously identified by CIFAS shows no signs of abating. Whether it is the organised criminal, the opportunist or the genuinely needy who commit it, the changes not only in frequency, but also method, prove that businesses, individuals and public organisations alike must start taking this threat more seriously.

“CIFAS strongly urges that an active, preventative, approach is taken to tackling fraud, as opposed to a costly clean-up effort designed to limit damage after the fact.”

People are urged to shred documents that contain personal information; to ensure others are not looking over their shoulder when entering a pin number at a cash machine or store checkout; to be careful what details they put online or give to cold callers; and to monitor bank accounts to make sure they know what is going in and out of their account.

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