NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository

Source: Elaborated from CIFAS online, UK’s Fraud Prevention Service. www.cifas.org.uk
Available statistics indicate that identity fraud is on the rise. Attempted identity frauds
rose 21.5 per cent from 2005 to 2006 and 12 per cent from the first half of 2007 to
2008. 57 Moreover, from 2007 to 2008 CIFAS members reported a 159 per cent increase
in account takeover fraud. 58 However, detection and prevention techniques seem to be
increasingly efficient, since the number of attempted ID frauds detected before an
account was opened increased during 2006 by almost 40 per cent. This means that a
higher proportion of the victims whose identities had been compromised never had any
money stolen from their accounts, or products taken out in their name. 59
While the impact of identity fraud is not easy to gauge, 60 the Identity Fraud Steering
Committee (IFSC) 61 estimated the cost of ID fraud to the UK economy at £1.2 billion in
2007, the equivalent to £25 per person. Major updates in accounting and calculation
methodology make this figure incomparable with previous estimates of £1.3 billion in
2002 and £1.7 billion in 2006 from the Cabinet Office. 62
Other reports suggest that identity fraud activity may only represent a small fraction of
total online fraud. For instance, the 2008 Symantec security threat report 63 indicated
that identity theft information for sale, as advertised on underground servers,
represented only 7 per cent of all the categories for sale in 2007, and 10 per cent of the
type of information most demanded by cybercriminals. Since full identities consist of a
combination of multiple pieces of information (name, address, mother’s maiden name,
57 According to CIFAS; see www.cifas.org.uk.
58 When a fraudster impersonates an individual in order to 'take over' his/her bank account.
59 See www.cifas.org.uk.
60 Cabinet Office, (2002), “Identity Fraud: a study”.
61 The Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC) was set up by the Home Office in 2003 to work with public
and private sector organisations to identify and implement cost effective measures to counter identity fraud.
See www.identity-theft.org.uk/committee.asp.
62 The initial figure added overlapping figures from CIFAS and APACS, and included other payments not directly
related to identity fraud. Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC), “New Estimate of Cost of
Identity Fraud to the UK Economy”, available at http://www.identity-theft.org.uk/cms/assets/cost of identity
fraud to the UK economy2006-07.pdf.
63 Symantec (2008), “Symantec Report on the Underground Economy”, July 07–June 08.
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