CIFAS warns of dramatic rise in ID fraud

Nearly 60,000 UK citizens were victims of impersonation in the first nine months of 2009

The UK-based CIFAS fraud prevention service says identity fraud rose by a third over the first nine months of the year.

The Anonymous Attacker report (PDF), which was released to coincide with the start of National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, identified a 36 per cent rise in 'impersonations' over the same period.

CIFAS said that there had been 59,000 victims of impersonation in the first nine months of this year, and that one in two online attacks were aimed squarely at credit and debit card users. Mobile phone cloning has more than doubled, according to the figures.

The report also identified south east London and Birmingham as the two worst fraud hotspots in the UK.

Consumers are not alone in falling victim to attacks. Some 54 per cent of businesses have been victims of fraud or online crime in the past 12 months, including 37 per sent with phishing emails, 15 per cent with card-not-present fraud, and 15 per cent with viruses and hacking.

"Fraud is an insidious crime. It affects consumers and businesses financially, and its impact in terms of reputation, trust and time is unquantifiable," said CIFAS chief executive Peter Hurst.

"In partnership with other industry participants, this report lays bare the facts. It is only through such collaboration that the continued fight against fraud can be won. Fraud prevention is a shared responsibility and must become a shared duty across the private and public sectors."