Protect your identity

We have never been more at risk of becoming victims of identity fraud – and often we have only ourselves to blame, according to new research released to mark National Identity Fraud Prevention Week.

The members of more than 21 million British households are throwing away their identities along with their rubbish and fuelling a criminal bonanza that the government estimates costs the country £1.7 billion a year.

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 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent have dumped a document including their bank account number and sort code
• 48 per cent had thrown away everything a fraudster would need to take over their ID

A growing threat

The results show an annual increase of 20 per cent in carelessness with sensitive documents, despite campaigns to raise awareness of the problem. National Identity Fraud Protection Week is part of this exercise and is 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.

One of the world’s leading authorities on identity fraud, Professor Martin Gill, also completed a study of offenders and victims that highlighted the ways in which the crime is committed. These include: