Sharp rise in identity theft
Identity theft in the UK has reached record highs new studies reveal.
One of the UK’s leading credit reference agencies has reported that over 2000 people had contacted their fraudulent activities department in the 4th quarter of last year to report cases of identity theft, an increase of almost 70%.
For the first time ever, the majority of victims are reporting ID theft occurring on their current address’s opposed to their previous. This particular kind of fraud is quite sophisticated suggesting criminals are using complex mail redirection/interception techniques to obtain personally sensitive information.
A large percentage of people have been completely unaware of any goings on and have only realised they have fallen victim to such scams, when receiving account statements by loan and other credit organisations.
As far as a demographic breakdown of activity is concerned, the South East is effected worst closely followed by the North West. Young, successful people living in the most affluent parts of the country appear to be the most heavily targeted.
People are advised to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity immediately.
