Identity theft in the UK rises by a third
Data from fraud prevention service Cifas shows 34,151 confirmed instances of identity fraud were recorded in the first quarter of 2015.
Identity fraud is when criminals abuse personal data to impersonate a victim or to create fictitious identities to obtain products and services.
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Hide AdAccording to the figures for the three-month period, credit cards were involved in 14,103 confirmed cases, while bank accounts were involved in 9,349 cases.
Cifas said 80% of identity fraud in the first quarter was attempted online.
Simon Dukes, Cifas chief executive, said: “Our data is just the tip of the iceberg - more needs to be done to identify the true scale of fraud in the UK and educate individuals about the dangers and the steps that can be taken to protect themselves.”