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Normal service, in terms of our regular news articles and tips, will resume next week.

Remember, Identity Alarm can help you to protect your identity and to stop identity fraud by alerting you to significant changes to your credit report.

Zurich Insurance has been fined over two million pounds by the FSA for losing the details of over 46,000 UK customers.

News of the record fine was reported this week, although the incident took place in South Africa back in August 2008, and wasn’t flagged up to the authorities for a further twelve months.

Although there appears to be a renewed appetite for the relevant authorities to punish companies that have been careless with their customer data, each incident of this type gives rise to the potential for many more victims of identity fraud.

Don’t forget that Identity Alarm can provide unlimited access to view your own credit report in addition to alerts via email or text for any significant changes that take place to your credit report. The service works out at less than 14p per day for an annual subscription – a small price to pay for peace of mind.

[Source: BBC News]

In the latest of our series of helpful tips and hints to prevent identity fraud, we thought it would be worthwhile to highlight some of the weaknesses that fraudsters tend to take advantage of, in order to commit this crime.

Although major events in your life may be very stressful, in some cases they may mean that you are more at risk of becoming a victim of Identity Fraud as well.

Choosing to move house, or even leaving home to go to university, as many students will be doing in a few weeks’ time, can in fact result in additional opportunities for unscrupulous identity fraudsters to take advantage of your changing circumstances.

Many of us who are careful with our personal details at other times, may take less care when faced with the stresses of such a change in our life circumstances. Therefore, everything you do to protect your personal information at other times should also remain in force, especially when you are moving to a new address. When information is requested or required, you need to ask yourself if the recipient is genuine and ensure that information is only provided when necessary, and that the details provided do not compromise your identity. In addition, it can also be worthwhile to ensure that institutions are informed that you are moving as well as arranging with Royal Mail for your post to be forwarded to your new address.

By taking care to safeguard your personal information at all times, including times of major upheaval in your life, you can certainly reduce your exposure to identity fraud.

The latest identity fraud news stories coming out of the US are mostly concerned with the realisation that increasing numbers of identity fraudsters over there have taken to acquiring and using social security numbers (equivalent to our National Insurance numbers) of children to commit fraud.

Although it is believed that this practice is unlikely to be replicated in the same way here in the UK, due to the different way in which National Insurance numbers are generated, it does go to show that identity fraudsters are willing to go to new lengths to commit their crimes. The benefit to a fraudster in the US, of obtaining a child’s social security number, and using it to commit fraud, is that there is less chance of the crime being discovered.

Fox News also reports that the practice has become increasingly popular among fraudsters, as they can start with a totally clean credit history, and then undertake a practice known as ‘piggybacking’ which involves linking to someone else’s credit file.

If you have concerns about identity fraud then the service from Identity Alarm gives you unlimited access to view your own credit report. This is in addition to alerts via email or text for any significant changes that take place to your credit report, which could act as an early warning sign. The service works out at less than 14p per day for an annual subscription – a small price to pay for peace of mind.

[Source: Fox News]

Recent information published by CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service, shows what many experts expected, namely a continued increase in identity fraud cases, despite extensive efforts to increase awareness about the crime.

The figures showed a 14% increase in identity fraud, while the number of victims of impersonation rose by 22%, versus the first six months of 2009. Overall fraud cases actually fell slightly (by 3%) over the first six months of 2010, which is slightly better news, despite the instances of identity fraud and impersonation.

As well as taking precautions to keep your personal information safe, a good way to keep you identity protected is to check your credit report on a regular basis. These checks would help to highlight any unusual activity that may be fraudulent. Identity Alarm can assist you with your identity protection needs.

In other news, following last week’s article about National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, we are now able to confirm that this year’s event will run from 18th October – 24th October.

[Source: CIFAS]

In advance of the UK’s annual ‘National Identity Fraud Prevention Week’ event, which usually takes place around October each year (this year’s dates are still to be confirmed) entries are being invited from companies that have taken the most effective steps to prevent Identity Fraud. Awards will then be presented to the most worthy entrants, to tie in with the annual event during the autumn.

You can find more details about making a nomination on the awards page on the National Identity Fraud Prevention Week website. Winners and shortlisted businesses will also be featured on the website as Identity Fraud Ambassadors. If you would like to get involved then fill out the form on the website, but remember that the deadline for submissions is 17th September 2010.

As we have done in previous years, we will again be promoting National Identity Fraud Prevention Week in 2010. As well as having confirmation of dates, we will also be featuring information from the official website nearer the time.

[Source: National Identity Fraud Prevention Week]

As we approach the end of July, and most schools in the UK are about to break up (if they have not already done so), the main holiday season is about to begin and millions of us are thinking of heading abroad to find some summer sun.

Identity Fraud can strike at any time, but rather than letting your guard down when you are on holiday it is advisable to take extra precautions. As well as ensuring that you keep your passport safe at all times, it is important to take particular care with your finances as well, and there are several key points to remember, especially in relation to your credit and/or debit cards:

- Make sure your card company has up-to-date contact details for you, including a mobile telephone number.

- Make sure you have the 24-hour contact telephone numbers for each of your cards in case you need to speak to your card company.

- Some issuers have reduced customers’ credit card limits recently, so make sure the credit limit on your card is sufficient for the spending you intend to make.

- Safeguard your PIN at all times, and do not reveal it to anybody else, even if they claim to be from the police or your bank.

- Hide your PIN with your free hand when entering it into a keypad in a shop or at a cash machine.

- Consider taking more than one card with you as well as some local currency in case you need an alternative payment method as a backup.

- Finally, it may also be worth informing your bank/credit card issuer before you travel that you are going overseas, as some customers have been stopped from using their card as transactions abroad have been detected and flagged up as ‘unusual activity’.

Remembering these simple steps will help to reduce your risk to Identity Fraud, while you are on holiday.

Consumer organisation ‘Which?’ has commissioned research, indicating that one in five victims of identity fraud was not able to get the full amount refunded to them and in some cases their bank had refused to reimburse them at all.

One common misconception about the crime of identity fraud is that victims will be refunded quickly and easily. However, this research shows once again that is not always the case and as well as the hurdles that victims face to get their money back, there is also the potential long term impact of a sullied credit report. Many victims who do manage eventually to have money refunded to them face varying degrees of difficulty in ensuring that the unauthorised activity is removed completely from their credit history.

Of course, there is help at hand, and members of the identity fraud protection service from Identity Alarm have unlimited access to view their own credit report, as well as being entitled to receive alerts via email or text for any significant changes that take place, which could act as an early warning sign.

[Source: Which?]

If, like us, you have watched the brand new ITV1 drama series ‘Identity’, which started on Monday and is based around identity related crime, you would probably be right in thinking that a fair amount of ’sexing up’ is done to make the programme more entertaining.

However, identity fraud is a very real crime, with very real victims as illustrated by yet another recent case that came to court in Gloucester. In this particular case, like many others, the fraudster obtained key pieces of personal data from his victim, and then tried to time the fraud to coincide with race week in Cheltenham when there would be more cash withdrawals than normal. However, like every crime of this nature, there are usually innocent victims who are left to pick up the pieces and clear their names.

Identity Alarm are identity fraud protection specialists, and can help to prevent you from becoming another identity fraud crime statistic.

[Source: This Is Gloucestershire]

One of the main problems with identity fraud, and other identity related crime, is that unlike other ‘instant’ crimes it never seems to be given the same amount of publicity.

Therefore, it is good to hear that a new series ‘Identity’ that begins on ITV1 on Monday 5th July, is going to examine some of the aspects of identity related crime in a way that will be seen by several million viewers.

Of course, the series is a fictional drama, but many of the aspects of identity related crime that are covered will have echoes of real life events. As a further twist, it appears that one of the main stars of the new show, Keeley Hawes, has already been a victim of identity fraud herself.

We are looking forward to seeing how this new series tackles these issues, and welcome the additional levels of discussion that will come from the exposure of this subject on mainstream TV.

Identity Alarm are identity fraud protection specialists, and can help to ensure that you do not become the next victim.

[Source: ITV]