Security Oracle News Archive

National Fraud Prevention Week Launches Today (16 Oct 06)

Mon, October 16, 2006

Source: Stop ID Fraud

LONDON, 16th October 2006 - National Identity Fraud Prevention Week begins today with a stark warning to the British public that they could, and should, be doing more to protect themselves from becoming victims of identity fraud.

Over 21 million households at risk from identity fraud as Britons throw away their identity.

- National Identity Fraud Prevention Week launches today with the warning that an increasing number of people are still putting themselves at risk -

LONDON, 16th October 2006 - National Identity Fraud Prevention Week begins today with a stark warning to the British public that they could, and should, be doing more to protect themselves from becoming victims of identity fraud.

The warning comes as new research reveals that more people than ever are putting themselves at risk of becoming a victim, despite awareness campaigns warning them of the dangers.

National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, now in its second year, seeks to stop the complacency found amongst the British public. The week runs from 16th – 22nd October with information available on what the public can do to protect themselves and fight identity fraud.

This awareness drive has been put in place by an expert group of public and private sector partners, including the Metropolitan Police (and other regional police forces), Crimestoppers, The Identity and Passport Service, CIFAS – The UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, Fellowes, the Federation of Small Businesses, Callcredit, Equifax and Experian.

Bin-raiding research* commissioned by Fellowes for the campaign reveals:

· a staggering 97% of households, representing over 21 million homes in the UK, regularly dispose of materials stating their full name, sex, title, address and postcode
· 30% had thrown away their whole credit/debit card number
· 46% of households had thrown away an item that contained their bank account number and sort code and 73% had thrown away documents with their name exactly as it appears on a credit or debit card
· 48% had thrown away everything a fraudster needs to steal a person’s identity

These figures, up by over 20% on last year’s bin-raiding research, also revealed that not all people in one house behave in the same way. Instead, individuals living under the same roof often take a completely opposite approach in how they dispose of personal information, often putting their family, and themselves, at risk.

Also exclusively for the launch of the week, one of the world’s leading experts in identity fraud, Professor Martin Gill, completed a study into the offender and victim perspectives of identity fraud, to understand more about the motivations of identity thieves. Professor Gill and his team at Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International (PRCI) Ltd, found that offenders in this study adopted a range of approaches to commit identity fraud using paper based documents including:

· personal information being removed from dustbins;
· stealing personal documents as part of other crimes e.g. burglaries;
· stealing post from people’s front doorsteps;
· stealing ladies’ handbags and men’s wallets;
· impersonating the dead, using birth certificates of the deceased;
· redirecting post to obtain people’s personal details;

The study also showed that documents featuring personal details proved valuable to identity fraudsters who used the stolen identities to apply for credit cards, mobile phone contracts, and in some circumstances, higher level fraudulent activities e.g. opening bank accounts. These documents were also vital in helping offenders to ‘prove’ who they said they were.

The study involved interviewing a sample of offenders and victims. Their accounts provided useful insights and ideas into ways of reducing the opportunities to commit paper based identity fraud. These included:

· the need to raise public awareness on the breadth of paper based identity fraud;
· making the general public aware of the importance of safeguarding their own identity;
· shredding documents containing personal details;
· securing letter boxes;
· more stringent processes by credit providers and similar organisations when verifying applications.

As part of the national drive to make the public more aware of the dangers of identity fraud, and the simple steps they can take to protect themselves, the campaign has set up a dedicated website – www.stop-idfraud.co.uk, with a test to highlight ‘how at risk you are’ – and put in place a free-phone number – 00800 1810 1810 - that members of the public can call to receive a free guide to ‘Protecting Your Identity’ guide.

The campaign is also actively supported by Wandsworth Council.

Tyron Hill, Marketing Director, Fellowes and National Identity Fraud Prevention Week spokesperson, said: “People spend thousands of pounds protecting their homes against burglary – from top of the range locks to lighting systems and alarms. However, this research shows that virtually everyone in the country is literally handing over their identity to bin raiders. Your identity is the most important thing you have and people have got to stop being so complacent and must start to put up a fight against identity fraud. People need to be more vigilant – they need to check their mail, monitor their credit reports and most importantly, they need to shred.”

Commenting on the week, Joan Ryan MP, the Home Office Minister with responsibility for identity fraud, said: “The Government is concerned about identity fraud and we have established the Identity Fraud Steering Committee to implement measures to reduce the problem, including raising public awareness. Identity fraud is a drain on our economy and causes distress to everyday lives. Victims often experience problems reclaiming their identity and find it hard to get credit. National Identity Fraud Prevention Week 2006 will help to inform people on how to protect themselves from identity fraud and I welcome this initiative, which builds on last year’s event, and the Government’s awareness raising activity.”

Comment from the Metropolitan Police Service:
“The Metropolitan Police Service wholeheartedly supports National Identity Fraud Prevention Week. Identity theft is the scourge of our modern day living. Its perpetration and consequential impact do not discriminate across the social divide. The related offences cause serious implications for individual victims, corporations, the public at large and the economy as a whole.”

Professor Martin Gill, one of the world’s leading experts on identity fraud, said:
“Whilst the internet is now a widely used tool by identity thieves, the use of paper based documents containing personal information is still commonplace. Based on the comments from offenders and victims, it is clear that the public has to become better at taking preventative action to reduce the opportunity for identity fraud. Some of their [victims and offenders] suggested solutions include securing personal information and shredding documents. These are obvious ways of reducing opportunities for offenders, and it would be wise for everyone to take note.”

Nigel Evans, Member of Parliament for Ribble Valley and Chair of the All Party Group on Identity Fraud, added:
“Identity fraud is costing the UK billions of pounds a year, and is one of  Britain's fastest growing crimes, yet people are  still  not doing enough to protect themselves.  Throwing away your personal details is as good as advertising them in the local paper. We are making it far too easy for the identity thieves. I urge everyone to listen to police advice and destroy personal information before it is thrown away.  Members of Parliament from  all parties fully support this important campaign to raise awareness of this growing problem. I hope that everyone takes note of the simple steps that can be taken to protect their identities and that people stop handing their identities to the thieves on a plate.”

Rob Hughes, Director of Development and Communications, the charity Crimestoppers said:
“We support National ID Fraud Week because it’s vital that people wake up to the potential dangers of ID Fraud and take simple steps to protect themselves. If anyone has information about criminal activity, they should contact the police or if they want to remain anonymous call us on 0800 555 111.”
 
Kate Beddington Brown of CIFAS – The UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, added:
“There is a wealth of good advice available to people to help them protect their identities from fraudsters. Identity fraud continues to grow, however, so it is increasingly important that people begin to take notice of that advice. Although in many cases victims of identity fraud are able to rectify the situation quickly, others experience complications and extreme stress both in trying to clear their name and in dealing with the repercussions. We would urge everyone to visit the campaign website www.stop-idfraud.co.uk and to follow the advice given.”

David Croucher of the Federation of Small Businesses said:
"Every business in Britain needs to be fully aware of the growing threat of ID fraud. The consequences can be terminal for a small firm and can affect the individuals involved for many years. Businesses and employees need to be fully aware of the need to protect the identity of the firm, themselves and their customers from criminals. That is why we at the Federation of Small Businesses are so keen to get behind this campaign."

Mel Mitchley, Director of Industry Relations, Callcredit said:
“Personal data is the lifeblood of identity thieves and they are gorging themselves on people’s complacency. Just remembering to destroy personal documents such as bills and statements before throwing them away would go a long way to starving ID fraudsters of opportunities. As a credit reference agency, we see first hand the problems and distress identity fraud causes victims. People are underestimating the heartache. It can take many hours work over several weeks, even months, for someone to recover control of their identity and sort out their credit file.”

Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director of Equifax said: 
“Unquestionably the public are now aware of Identity Fraud, probably know at least some of the steps they should be taking, but apathy is defeating the work being done by the media, and the partners involved in National Identity Fraud Prevention Week. This week is the time to listen, the time to digest the information, and most importantly the time to act on the advice being offered.”

Jill Stevens, Director of Corporate Affairs at Experian, added:
“There can be no doubt that identity fraud is on the increase, leaving more and more victims in its wake. At Experian we deal with thousands of consumers every year who have had their identities compromised so know first hand just how upsetting and inconvenient this can be. Our free Victims of Fraud service gives these consumers specialist help to sort out the muddle a fraudster can leave. We deal with the lenders involved to help reduce the time and effort it takes to reclaim an identity. The more we all work together the less chance there is that fraudsters can prosper.”

Wandsworth Council leader Edward Lister said:
"We really have to get people to take more care with the way they dispose of every item of personal information. Many councils have been successful in raising recycling rates for household waste. Now we must make it second nature for people to shred these vital documents before they go in the recycling sack."

http://www.stop-idfraud.co.uk/