Online ID theft booms as credit levels increase

Online ID theft booms as credit levels increase

The average Briton is a tantalising £85,000 target for identity fraudsters, according to a study. Thanks, in part, to a boom in the credit being offered by financial institutions and retailers, criminals who steal personal details are in for a bigger payday than ever before.

But draining bank accounts and credit card balances amounts to only £14,000 of the total estimated value of a stolen identity. Fraudsters can make £60,000 by using an existing good credit rating to apply for more credit, while counterfeit passports and sham marriages are worth £5,000 apiece and a counterfeit driving licence has a street value of £1,000.

The report, commissioned by online identity management firm Garlik, estimated that ID thieves were fleecing more than 100,000 Britons a year, and this would increasing to 200,000 in 2010. "Criminals are responsible for 75% of credit card fraud, and are rapidly moving into identity theft," said Tom Ilube, chief executive of Garlik. "These identity brokers harvest data from online sources and use the information to manufacture and steal identities for criminal misuse."

The report by information consultancy 1871 Ltd said 2% of Britons regularly disclose bank details via the web, compared with only 2% who did so in person, and that 70% are happy to give out their home address online, compared with just under a quarter if asked over the telephone.

"There is now more information than ever before circulating.....continued below

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about individuals, and with one of the fastest takeups of broadband in Europe the amount of personal data we hand out online for fraudsters to use and abuse has rocketed," said criminologist Emily Finch, 1871's director of legal research.

Official figures confirm that identity theft is growing, with personal details such as home addresses and bank details becoming increasingly valuable to organised fraudsters. According to the government such crime already costs the UK economy about £1.7bn a year.

This week the privacy watchdog said it was investigating a number of banks, including HSBC, Halifax, Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland, over allegations that they had endangered the identities of customers by dumping information in rubbish bags outside some branches.

As anxiety over identity fraud has grown, so measures to combat ID theft have become more popular. The government has latched on to such worries, shifting the emphasis of its troubled plans to impose a biometric identification card system to reflect public concern.

But officials say there is still a long way to go, particularly since there are indications that most ID theft cases are never brought to the attention of the police. "Identity theft is not a victimless crime," said Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Mawer, of the Metropolitan police. "It can cause serious implications for individual victims, corporations, the public at large and the economy as a whole."

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