ID theft driven by account takeovers

Cases of identity theft have more than doubled in the past year according to life assistance firm CPP.

Instances of identity theft have risen 154 per cent since June 2007 and upwards of 1,000 serious cases have been reported to CPP since the start of this year. Bank account takeover is by far the most pervasive form as it constitutes about 60 per cent of all cases in the UK.

Other common forms of identity theft include fraudulent mobile phone contracts, credit cards and unsecured loans, which were, respectively, involved in 13, 14 and 14 per cent of all instances last month. Other less frequent forms include fraudulent car leases, cloned care number plates, new bank accounts, catalogue or store cards, mortgages and benefit fraud.

CPP has offered a series to tips to avoid getting caught in the identity theft web, including keeping track of when your bills and bank statements are due to arrive and shredding all such documents before disposing of them. CPP also discourages writing down PIN numbers and unquestioningly giving away personal details.

Safe storage of personal documents, physically or on a PC, is encouraged as is informing banks, credit cards and utility providers as soon as an address is changed. Keeping an eagle eye on cards during all transactions and staying attentive to all possible fraudulent transactions are also singled out by CPP.

Michael Lynch, identity theft expert at CPP, said: “Since the beginning of the year we have seen fraudsters put much more effort into stealing identities. Criminals are committed to taking over victims’ bank accounts to maximise the returns on stealing an identity. It is worrying that account takeover is so dominant because it is difficult to untangle the fraud and prove your innocence.

"In general, people are still not vigilant enough when it comes to protecting their personal information. Documents are not shredded before being binned, phishing and social engineering scams are presenting fraudsters with new opportunities and PIN numbers are being compromised. Fraudsters are continually keeping up to date with new technology and methods to commit their crime."