Nottingham, UK 6 April – Young, single renters continue to be the most targeted demographic for identity thieves. The news follows the latest UK-wide fraud analysis from Experian, which shows that identity theft has become the most prevalent form of fraud for the first time since the recession.
Young renters were serially targeted by identity thieves with over one in six cases of third party fraud involving this particular demographic. The rise of identity fraud in financial product applications has been spearheaded by a significant increase in current account fraud. This may be as a result of identity thieves looking to test the robustness of security guarding the seven day switching scheme.
The rental generation seemingly bore the brunt of this rise, finding themselves the victims of over a fifth (22 per cent) of all current account ID frauds. When looking at other financial products, renters’ stolen details are also used the most for fraudulent credit card and loan applications. One in six (16 per cent) fraudulent credit card applications and one in six (17 per cent) fraudulent loan applications were detected with details from young renters.
However, it is not just renters that are being targeted by identity thieves. Affluent couples living in prestigious areas are seeing their fair share of fraud according to the latest data. Wealthy couples are the second most popular targets for identity thieves, accounting for 11 per cent of all identity theft in 2014. These couples are particularly targeted for card and loan fraud, falling victim to 13 per cent of all fraudulent card applications and 14 per cent of all fraudulent loan applications in 2014. In particular this group offers the potential for thieves to make higher value scams based on their large incomes.
Nick Mothershaw, UK&I Director of Identity and Fraud at Experian comments: “Young renters are the biggest target for identity thieves. Shared hallways and easily accessible properties mean that rental tenants’ details are most at risk compared to other demographics. Also they are prolific users of mobile and online services meaning that fraudsters have even more avenues to try and steal people’s details.
“Wealthy couples also continue to find themselves as a target due to the large pay days on offer to identity thieves, but the good news is that financial institutions are constantly improving in the fight against fraud.
“The latest analysis reveals the effective work being done by lenders to detect and prevent fraud, but it also highlights the need for people to think about how they protect their personal information both on and off line.”
Experian plays a key role in helping people and organisations protect themselves and their customers against fraud. Experian helps by verifying that people are who they say they are and that the information they provide is correct. It also helps organisations protect their customers from the risk of fraud at every point of contact, whether it is through PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones, using the latest device recognition technology.
For more information about fraud prevention, please visit: http://www.experian.co.uk/identity-and-fraud/fraud-prevention.html
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Information based on Q4 2013 to Q4 2014 Experian fraud data. Experian works closely with National Hunter, the UK’s leading fraud prevention system, operated by Experian on behalf of members. It enables financial institutions to cross-match applications against more than 100 million previous application records in order to spot commonalities and anomalies that are potentially indicative of fraud for further investigation.
Contact:
Sarah Muir / Edward Keough
Lansons
020 7490 8828
sarahm@lansons.com / edwardk@lansons.com
About Experian
We are the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world. We help businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. We also help people to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft. In 2014, we were named by Forbes magazine as one of the ‘World’s Most Innovative Companies’.
We employ approximately 16,000 people in 39 countries and our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2014, was US$4.8 billion.
To find out more about our company, please visit http://www.experianplc.com or watch our documentary, ‘Inside Experian’.