ID theft rockets, becomes 'crime of choice'

Its MD, Fred Steffers, said Alexander Forbes Insurance estimated that identity theft-related fraud had cost SA businesses R276m in the first three months of this year. SA Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), a non-profit organisation that works to combat fraud, identity theft and financial crime, says it is getting up to 25 complaints daily, according to the Cape Times. Armed with somebody else's personal details and ID number, a fraudster could 'open numerous accounts ...and then go on a spending spree', said Steffers. He said the 'identity theft fraud chain' usually started with the theft of personal documents: credit cards, driver's licences, passports or ID books. He said many South Africans did not protect these documents well enough and provided their ID numbers 'far too readily'. 'There is a widespread lack of understanding of just how valuable this information is. An ID should be protected just as carefully as a cheque book or a credit card,' said Steffers. SA Fraud Prevention Service head Pat Cunningham said that identity theft was a huge problem around the world. Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)

Reporting on the statistics of economic crime, attorney Matthew Purchase said a staggering 72% of South Africans had been victims of white-collar crime such as fraud, corruption, embezzlement and theft. According to a report in The Times, he said fraud in the purchasing of goods and services by businesses, paying kickbacks and manipulating tenders were common. Kickbacks were a major problem for business, he said. Purchase said company owners should look for 'red flags', such as an accounts clerk taking leave so that he could refurbish his yacht in Monaco. Dave Loxton said organisations should protect whistle-blowers or they would be afraid to come forward and expose fraud. 'One needs to give them a hotline or avenue they can pursue, without fear of retribution,' said Loxton. Full report in The Times

Identity fraud grew alarmingly in the UK last year, with affluent Londoners particularly at risk, according to figures from credit reference agency Experian. The company said that more than 6 000 victims of identity fraud had contacted them last year, compared with 3 500 in 2006. The Register notes that these directly reported incidents are a mere fraction of the 10 000 identity fraud cases analysed by Experian. Their analysis showed that London residents were twice as likely as others in the rest of the country to fall victim to ID theft. In addition, higher income earners are three times as likely to fall victim to identity fraudsters. Full report in The Register

ID theft and other fraud often occurs over the Internet and Yahoo has filed a lawsuit against numerous anonymous 'Yahoo Lottery Spammers' for illegally sending phishing e-mails that enticed users into revealing personal information. The suit, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the anonymous spammers violated the Federal Trademark Act, the Federal Can-Spam Act and other related state laws. Yahoo hopes that they will be able to identify and apprehend the perpetrators by tracking their e-mail addresses. According to a CRN.com report, court documents allege that the scammers have wilfully impersonated the search engine, claiming that victims won prizes that ranged from a few thousand to a million dollars. The scammers then instructed Yahoo users to open a link or submit personal information in order to receive their prize. The lawsuit is part of Yahoo's broader effort to start cracking down on Internet scammers that impersonate or misuse the company's name for illegal cyber activity, which includes spam and e-mail fraud. Full CRN.com report

In Japan, the government has been forced to take action because of the increasing problem of bank fraud. A law is expected to come into force later this month which will allow about ¥5bn (US$47m) in frozen bank accounts to be distributed to victims of bank transfer scams. The Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan and financial institutions will co-operate and start distributing the ¥5bn this year, according to the Japan Times. The victims were deceived into transferring money to bank accounts used for fraudulent purposes. The law enables victims to receive money swindled by criminal groups without launching lawsuits. Full Japan Times report