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At the end of the first-quarter of 2008, data provided by the members of CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, demonstrates a changing fraud landscape.

The number of fraud cases filed by CIFAS members rose by more than 10 per cent to 52,286 by the end of the first quarter of 2008 when compared with the same period in 2007.

Sophisticated spoof emails and websites

Facility takeover - also known as account takeover - occurs when the fraudster impersonates a victim in order to 'take over' and control one or more of the victim's existing accounts.

A staggering 146 per cent rise in cases of facility takeover being filed by CIFAS members took place during this quarter, when compared with the same period last year.

Kate Beddington-Brown, CIFAS head of communications, notes that although it is difficult to know the reasons for this increase, it could be attributable at least in part to the prevalence of online 'phishing'.

“The use of an increasing number of sophisticated spoof emails and websites designed to deceive recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card or bank account numbers and passwords was highlighted in a recent report by APACS, the UK Payments Association,” she adds.

Beddington-Brown believes that this demonstrates how important it is for the general public to be aware of such scams.

Change in the way fraud is perpetrated

The recent decreasing trend in identity fraud cases has continued into the first quarter of 2008, with only 14,567 victims during the period, down nearly 19 per cent from 17,968 during the same period of 2007.

The swing towards current address fraud from previous address fraud also demonstrates a worrying change in the way that identity fraud is perpetrated.

During the first quarter of 2008, cases of previous address fraud represented only approximately two-thirds of the numbers of current address fraud.

CIFAS chief executive Peter Hurst says, “Fraudsters need a more complete data-set in order to perpetrate current address fraud, so this shift is further evidence of their increasing sophistication.”

Abuse of Companies House data

Current address fraud is a type of identity fraud where the victim lives at the same address as the "current address" given on the fraudulent application.

The fraudster is often resident at the same property as the victim. In such cases, the fraudster applies for, and uses, products in the name of the victim whose property they share.

The fraudster will generally have access to, or can intercept, the victim's post, for example, in flats where individuals share a communal mailbox with shared access.

Other contributory factors to current address fraud can include abuse of Companies House data, data breaches, fraudulent mail redirections and bin raiding.

Previous address fraud is where the fraudster steals another person's identity and falsely claims that the victim has recently changed address.

Due to the short time at the alleged 'new' address, any credit reference agency checks are performed primarily against the 'previous' address, where in reality the victim is still resident.

Lies on application forms

Attempts to commit fraud by including material falsehoods on application forms – for example, for loans, credit cards or insurance products - showed an increase during this quarter of over 13 per cent, from 19,239 cases to 21,780 cases in the first quarter of 2008.

The most frequent lie told remains the failure to disclose a previous address where the applicant’s credit history has been impaired.

Hurst says that those who think that lying on application forms will give them any advantage need to realise that their efforts are counter-productive.

“Fraud data sharing means that such lies are easy to detect and, far from enhancing an applicant's chances, will be detrimental to their application. Telling the truth, even if it is slightly less palatable, remains the best policy," he adds.

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