By Tim Ferguson, 12 April 2007 15:59
NEWS
The internet is helping criminal gangs to coordinate their activities and steal personal details to perpetrate identity fraud.
Financial information firm Experian was contacted by 2,124 new victims of ID fraud in the second half of 2006, a rise of 69 per cent on the same period in 2005.
Experian said this dramatic increase is partly due to the growth of sophisticated criminal gangs that are recruited and managed via the internet.
"The serious identity fraudster is now e-enabled, IT savvy and anti-social networked," the company claimed.silicon.com Financial Services
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Mail order companies were hardest hit in terms of fraud volumes, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of total cases, while the biggest loses were suffered by credit and store card issuers.
Credit and store card issuers accounted for 28 per cent of the total financial losses - at an average cost per case of £1,548 - while loan providers suffered 19 per cent of total losses, at an average cost per case £4,797. With an average cost per case of £229, mail order companies suffered 15 per cent of total financial losses.
Experian said that while victims tend not do not bear the financial costs of ID fraud, it is still not a victimless crime. Financial services companies often pass the cost onto consumers while the credit ratings of victims can take time to be corrected.
Top salary earners are four times more likely to be a victim of ID fraud than average while people living in rented accommodation or flatshares are also at greater risk.
London is the UK's fraud capital, according to the Experian figures, with the top 25 locations for ID fraud located within the M25.
Comments
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1. Marc Hudavert
Dear Sir,
It’s not surprising to see that identity theft is on the increase but the world’s problems are just the tip of the iceberg. The practice of phishing, for example, hasn’t really evolved over the passage of time yet remains alarmingly effective. It first entered the Internet when hackers started to steal America Online accounts and passwords, and was then followed by several other attacks on large banks. Hackers would send out email lures to ‘fish’ for data from the ‘sea’ of Internet users.
Phishing works for hackers and has now spread beyond English-speaking bank customers to other sectors (government, postal services, etc) and other languages. It’s still early days in the evolution of phishing and I believe its proponents will continue to find success for some time to come.
Unless those targeted organisations re-evaluate the way in which they use authentication technologies, such as smart cards and security tokens, phishers have a very promising future ahead. The phenomenon is already more than ten years old and it’s going to be interesting to see how well accustomed global business has become to dealing with this threat.
Kind regards,
Marc Hudavert,
Vice-president & general manager
ActivIdentity EMEA