Worrying rise in conmen stealing identity of over-60s

‘Increasingly at risk’

tHE over-60s are being increasingly targeted by fraudsters trying to steal their identity.

there were 14,261 reports of identity theft from victims aged over 60 in the first six months of the year, according to fraud prevention service Cifas.

this is an 8 per cent increase on the same period last year, when there were 13,164 cases recorded.

across all age groups there was a 5 per cent dip in cases of identity fraud between January and June compared to the same period last year, said Cifas, which represents financial service providers.

But there was still a huge number of cases recorded over the six month period – 84,463, compared to 53,881 cases four years ago. Identity fraud accounts for more than half of all fraud recorded by Cifas.

Baroness Ros altmann, former pensions minister and a campaigner for older people, said: ‘Identity fraud is a very serious problem and more needs to be done to protect the public.

‘over-60s are increasingly at risk because more older people are using the internet but are perhaps less au fait when it comes to mitigating the risks.

‘they may not, for example, have strong enough passwords or know how to find information on how to protect themselves.’

Identity fraud occurs when a crook opens a bank account or takes out a credit card, loan or mobile phone contract in someone else’s name. to do this the fraudster will have gained access to the victim’s personal information. they can do this using a variety of tactics such as stealing post or hacking into emails.

Just last month the Daily Mail revealed how criminals are also selling people’s bank account infor- mation, addresses and mobile phone numbers on forums that can be accessed by a Google search.

often the first the victim knows they have been targeted is when they receive a bill for something they haven’t ordered or are turned down for a loan or mortgage because their credit rating has been damaged.

there has been a reduction in the number of bank accounts targeted by identity fraudsters, with cases falling by 12 per cent to 21,877. However, reports of identity fraud against online shopping accounts jumped by about a quarter – from 5,097 cases in the first six months of last year to 6,329 this year.

there has also been a 12 per cent rise in the number of cases where fraudsters have applied for a debit or credit card in someone else’s name. In the first six months of this year there were 33,305 cases compared to 29,851 over the same period last year.

Sandra Peaston, a director at Cifas, said identity fraud remained ‘uncomfortably high’.

‘Cases reached record levels in 2017, therefore it is positive that we have seen an overall reduction,’ she said.

‘ However, these new figures demonstrate that identity fraudsters adapt quickly to try and circumvent security measures. the re-targeting of plastic cards, following a drop in 2017, is a prime example of this.