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Identity Fraud
Identity fraud occurs when someone fraudulently uses someone else's personal information to buy goods, services, or obtain credit. In many cases the victims of identity fraud may not even realise their information is being used for fraudulent purposes. Identity fraud can lead to victims being unable to attain credit, loans or a mortgage until the problem has been rectified. Identity fraud also costs the government, and therefore the taxpayer, millions of pounds a year. Identity fraud can also affect businesses.
Identity fraud is one of the UK's fastest-growing crimes, costing the economy an estimated £1.7bn in 2006. The growth of identity fraud is fuelled by various factors ranging from organised financial crime to international terrorism. The development of e-commerce has led to increased de-personalisation of the customer-supplier relationship and not knowing exactly whom they are dealing with puts the organisation, the industry it operates within and society as a whole at risk from the growing problem of identity fraud.
Legislation and regulations designed to combat money laundering, identity fraud and the protection of the vulnerable mean that citizens are increasingly asked for proof of identity, to combat this fraud. More than 500 million identity checks are undertaken annually in the UK alone with every adult identified an average of 11 times a year. Organisations across all public and private sectors are now looking at identity and age verification not just as a compliance issue but also as a way of fighting identity fraud, vastly improving customer registration rates and the customer experience through slick yet reliable processes.