Dark web fraudsters are targeting 430,000 in city

THE identities of more than 430,000 Birmingham residents have been put up for sale on the dark web by criminals – and most of the victims are unaware of it, new research has shown.

The crooks have collected personal information from their victims to build profiles which can be bought by others and used in crime.

Research from data intelligence company C6 – An Acuris Company has revealed the shock statistic.

It showed that residents in Birmingham and Wolverhampton were most likely to be targeted.

In all, 430,983 residents from Birmingham and 94,084 in Wolverhampton have fallen victim to the crooks.

They have their email addresses, passwords and social media information for sale on the dark web.

According to credit score operator Experian, the fraud industry costs the UK economy £193 billion a year.

Emma Mills, from C6 – An Acuris Company, said: “Online crime often starts with criminals acquiring your email address.

“They add to this information over time until they have secured enough of your personal information to commit a crime. Their MO is email addresses and passwords, which they will then copy in an attempt to access websites – social media accounts and even a catalogue account like Next or Argos, for example.

“If they have luck, they will be able to see the address you have listed on such catalogue websites, your friends on Facebook and even your credit card and debit details.

“They can also gain unauthorised access to your computer without you ever knowing, watching every move you make on screen, which could be logging in to your internet banking. During this attack, they could be taking down the personal information from your bank account, passwords, everything.

“They will then collect all this information and put it on a database up for sale on the dark web.”

The data company revealed on a nationwide basis, on average 15 per cent of addresses have either in full or part of their identities for sale on the dark web.

Out of the 57,000 residents in the B77 area, 30 per cent have fallen victim to having their data stolen and posted on the dark web for a fee.

From the 56,000 residents in the WV10 area of Wolverhampton, 28.38 per cent have their information for sale.

Ms Mills continued: “These sophisticated attacks can be very damaging. Banks have been known to pay out against identity fraud, but even some have stopped doing that in some cases. Certain banks won’t pay out if you have told a scammer your one-time-password to your account for instance.

“It can also be very tricky for banks to trust you have been fraudulently attacked in some cases too.

“Due to the fraudster having so much of your personal information, your bank could have a very hard time proving it wasn’t you applying for a credit card, purchasing something and so on.

“The reality really hits home when you take into consideration your credit score however.

“A fraudulent attack could badly damage your credit score which could also damage your chances of acquiring credit or even a mortgage in the future.”

Their MO is email addresses and passwords, which they will then copy in an attempt to access websites Emma Mills