Facts about ID Theft
| Author: Stooz | Created: 28/10/2006 |
The country has recently undertaken Fraud Prevention Week, so what does that mean? Well ID Theft has effected a growing number of people. But is it all great newspaper hype to fill the pages or a real concern?
The facts
Researchers did as the criminals do and raided bins and recycling boxes for useful documents, such as bank and credit card statements and direct mail offers.
They found that:
- 97% of households regularly throw out documents giving details such as full name, address, postcode and gender that could allow a crook to steal their identity
- 30% have thrown away an entire credit or debit card number and 73 per cent have trashed an item giving their name exactly as it appears on a card these could allow thieves to use their accounts on the Internet or by mail or telephone order
- 46% have dumped a document including their bank account number and sort code
- 48% had thrown away everything a fraudster would need to take over their ID
The results show an annual increase of 20 per cent in carelessness with sensitive documents.
- There were 120,000 recorded cases in 2005
- It takes an average of 539 days to discover that you've become a victim of identity fraud and up to 500 hours of work to clear your name
- Londoners are twice as likely to become victims than other parts of the UK. The South-East and North West follow closely.
- Half of all adults in the UK have been targeted by criminals trying to get personal financial data over the internet or phone, and 5% of people fall for these scams
- Lenders spot 90% of attempts to get credit in someone else's name
National Identity Fraud Protection Week was run by a group of public and private sector partners including police forces, Crimestoppers, The Identity and Passport Service, CIFAS - the UK's fraud prevention service, and credit reference agencies such as Experian. The research was commissioned by Fellowes, who manufacture shredders.
To read more about stopping ID Theft, why not have a look at this free website that has been setup to give even further advise www.stop-idfraud.co.uk
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