Off the wire
• Roundup: Cypriot economic sentiment indicators rise further in April  • China's Ding crashes out of snooker worlds  • Indian stocks close lower  • Thai stocks close down 0.59 pct  • Iraq's Shiite cleric says U.S. defense bill may split Iraq  • China to regulate intermediary services for gov't review  • Crossbred algae may save coral reefs from global warming: study  • Cypriot, Egyptian, Greek leaders discuss regional cooperation in Nicosia  • Russia prepares to deorbit failed Progress cargo spacecraft  • Bangladesh stocks close lower  
You are here: 　 Home

London's identity theft 3 times higher than other regions in UK: findings

Xinhua, April 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

London is Britain's identity theft capital, with almost three times higher rate of incidents than anywhere else of the country in 2014.

Outer London topped Britain's regional list with 34 cases of identity fraud for every 10,000 adults, followed by Central London with 33 cases out of 10,000. While the next highest rate of identity theft, which was in Hatfield, Herfordshire, was merely 12 in every 10,000, said Experian, a UK-based information services company, on Wednesday.

The statistics are based on the number of fraudulent applications across financial products including current accounts, loans, mortgages, savings accounts, insurance, automotive and credit cards, it noted.

Nick Mothershaw, UK&I Director of Identity & Fraud at Experian, commented: "The diverse cross-section of demographics in London means that many areas are a prime target. The affluent suburbs are attractive targets for high level frauds, whilst high density blocks of flats with communal mail boxes can offer identity thieves an easy way in to gain people's information."

"The good news is that more and more of these frauds are being spotted as the financial services sector continues to innovate in the fight against fraud. However, with fraudsters' methods becoming increasingly more sophisticated, tackling this type of crime needs to remain a priority for all providers," he added.

According to Experian's findings, identity theft has become the most prevalent form of fraud for the first time since the economic recession years ago.

Between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the fourth quarter of 2014, the rate of third party fraud rose steadily and now accounts for 52 percent of all detected, figures showed.

The company advises six key steps people should consider to help avoid identity theft: always use secure, unique passwords for online accounts; don't be tempted to open emails, links or attachments received from people you don't know; don't store account names and passwords on your smartphone; be cautious and don't add people you don't know in your social websites; monitor your credit report, bank account and card statements regularly; know where your details go. Endit