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At the end of the first quarter of 2006, data provided by members of CIFAS, the
UK’s fraud prevention service, showed a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17% in
identity frauds.
This represents 16,077 victims of impersonation.
By using the CIFAS fraud prevention database, members were able to detect many
more ID frauds at application stage.
For the same period in 2005 almost half of the Identity Frauds recorded were
only identified after the facility had been granted to the fraudster, but in
2006 figure this is down to a third.
The number of attempted Identity Frauds that have been frustrated by CIFAS
Members has increased by over 50%, thus saving many more innocent victims the
stress and hassle of clearing their good name and contributing to savings for
CIFAS Members of over £163 million in the first quarter alone.
This compares favourably with the estimated losses to Members through Identity
Fraud of just under £15 million, representing a significant proportion of the
total estimated losses of £35 million.
CIFAS Chief Executive, Peter Hurst, explained: "While it is pleasing for our
members that so many cases are detected in advance, the continued threat of
identity fraud is very worrying for individuals.
"Every impersonation involves an innocent victim. Many have already been the
subject of street crime, burglary or assault and had personal documents stolen.
"This increase highlights the need for all parties – in both the public and
private sectors – to work together to combat this pernicious crime."
Source:
Getting Paid
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