90,000 identities are stolen in UK in just six months

MEMBERS of the public are having their identities stolen by criminals at ‘epidemic’ levels, figures revealed yesterday.

Identity fraud is taking place at a record rate of nearly 500 cases a day – with the majority of scams online.

Experts say the UK is facing a silent crimewave of credit card and banking fraud, as well as mail, phone and online scams.

Now statistics show 89,201 identity frauds were registered from January to June this year – the highest ever and up 5 per cent on the 84,863 cases in the equivalent period of 2016, says fraud prevention body Cifas.

Some 83 per cent of the scams logged in the first six months of this year occurred via the internet – reinforcing calls for people to bolster their personal cyber-security.

Cifas said criminals were ‘relentlessly’ targeting consumers and businesses by fraudulently applying for loans, online shopping, telecoms and insurance products in their names.

Victims often do not realise they have been targeted until a bill arrives for something they did not buy or they have problems with their credit rating.

Cifas chief executive Simon Dukes said: ‘ We have seen identity fraud attempts increase year on year, now reaching epidemic levels.

‘These frauds are taking place almost exclusively online. The vast amounts of personal data that is available either online or through data breaches is only making it easier for the fraudster.

‘Criminals are relentlessly targeting consumers and businesses and we must all be alert to the threat and do more to protect personal information.

Cifas said that although the number of identity fraud attempts against bank accounts and plastic cards had fallen by 14 per cent and 12 per cent respectively, they still account for more than half of all cases – nearly 55,000.

Fraudsters get hold of data such as names, dates of birth and addresses through a variety of routes including stolen mail, the dark web and hacking. In the year to March, the Crime Survey for England and Wales found that 5.1 million people had been victims of fraud or cyber-offences.