Cases of identity theft up 20% in 2009
In an alarming development it has been revealed that identity theft in the UK increased by 20% in 2009 compared to figures from 2008. While this in itself is worrying, the very fact that 72% of identity theft cases occurred in the second half of 2009 would indicate that 2010 is set to see significant growth in this area of fraudulent activity.
As well as an increase in general ID theft numbers it is also becoming evident that the fraudsters are now targeting the "less well off" in the UK in the knowledge that many of these potential victims will be unaware of ID theft and maybe less security conscious. There is no doubt that the ever-growing influence of the Internet has assisted many ID fraudsters but this does not excuse the lack of security measures evident in many social groups across the UK.
Those who believe that ID theft "happens to other people" are the perfect targets for the ID fraudsters because it is likely that these potential victims will "have their guards down". As we have mentioned on numerous occasions, there are also concerns that official ID theft figures are literally just the tip of the iceberg and could be very much worse than the public data would indicate.
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