Identity Theft - What is being done?


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What is being done?

Identity theft and fraud is an important and growing problem. It affects individuals, government departments and private sector organisations, and often forms part of more serious criminal operations such as people trafficking and drug smuggling.

The 2002 Cabinet Office Study, which covered the use of false identities and the theft of other people's identities, estimated that crime facilitated by identity fraud cost the UK £1.3 billion per annum.

The Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee has completed a one-off exercise to update the Cabinet Office estimate for the purpose of establishing trends in the cost of identity fraud over the past three years. The latest estimate is that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7 billion. As with the previous study, it represents a best estimate of the scale of the problem. Click here for a detailed breakdown of the new estimate.

Criminal offences

The Identity Cards Act 2006 created offences relating to possession, control and intent to use false identity documents, including a genuine document that relates to someone else. These offences came into force on 7 June 2006 and apply to all identity documents, including identity cards to be issued under the National Identity Scheme. Other documents include UK passports, immigration documents and driving licences, as well as driving licences, passports and identity cards issued by other countries.

The Fraud Act 2006 came into force on 15 January 2007 and created a new offence of fraud that can be committed in three ways: by making a false representation (dishonestly, with intent to make a gain, cause loss or risk of loss to another), by failing to disclose information, and by abuse of position. Offences were also created of obtaining services dishonestly, possessing equipment to commit frauds, and making or supplying articles for use in frauds.

Increased penalties

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 changed the law to align the penalty associated with fraudulently obtaining a driving licence with that for fraudulently obtaining a passport and made these offences arrestable. The maximum penalty for both documents is two years’ imprisonment.

Passports

The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) has deployed a database of lost and stolen passports. This is being shared with border authorities through Interpol to help detect and prevent identity fraud.

A passport validation service is now available to public and private sector organisations. This involves checking passports against the passport database when they are presented as evidence of identity, for example when opening bank accounts.

Authentication of the identity of individuals by interview for all first time adult passport applications will enhance the security of the passport issuing process.

Sharing good practice and joint working

In December 2005, a network of Single Points of Contact (SPOC) for prosecuting identity related crimes was established, with representatives from all police forces in England and Wales and a range of government departments and intelligence agencies. Each SPOC acts as a focal point within their organisation for dealing with identity fraud and is proactive in prosecuting identity related fraud offences with other agencies. The role also involves monitoring cases from the outset to conclusion and providing information and assistance to other agencies in combating identity fraud. This is leading to better co-ordination and more successful prosecutions for identity related crimes.

The Home Office, Identity and Passport Service, and DVLA worked closely with APACS, FLA and CIFAS to support their project to produce Identity Fraud - The UK Manual. The manual is designed to improve training provided to those in the financial sector responsible for checking customers’ identity to ensure consistency and greater accuracy in verifying identity. It includes examples of known security features from UK passports and driving licences and provides guidance to organisations to help spot forgeries.

Identity and Passport Service and DVLA continue to work closely together to establish higher standards of identity checking before they issue passports and driving licences.

Identity cards

The Government’s decision to introduce a National Identity Scheme was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 17 May 2005 and the Identity Cards Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006. The National Identity Scheme will provide people with a highly-secure means of protecting their identity and help citizens to prove their identities easily, quickly, simply and with vastly improved security. The identity card will be a convenient, effective and secure document for use in everyday life and will be vital if we are to protect ourselves from the misuse of identity through organised crime, illegal immigration and working, and fraudulent access to public services.

Impersonation of the deceased

The Police and Justice Act 2006 contains provisions to help prevent impersonation of deceased fraud. Section 13 provides the General Register Office with the power to supply deceased person information to the police, Serious and Organised Crime Agency, special police forces, and any other bodies specified in regulations, for the purposes of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences.

Raising public awareness

This website was launched to raise awareness of the risk presented by identity fraud, provide advice to help you protect your identity, and what you should do if you are a victim.

A leaflet and poster have also been produced to provide advice on identity fraud. Click to download a pdf of the leaflet and poster. The leaflet has been distributed to Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, police stations, public libraries, passport offices, DVLA offices, victim support schemes, GPs’ surgeries, and to all Members of Parliament. A number of organisations have produced co-branded versions of the leaflet to help increase awareness. These organisations include, Callcredit, Equifax, Nationwide Building Society, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Identity crime definitions

We have agreed a set of identity crime definitions to enable better targeting of work to tackle identity fraud. Click here to view the identity crime definitions. Corporate identity crime definitions have also been developed and can be viewed here.

British Crime Survey

Identity fraud questions have been incorporated into the British Crime Survey. The results should, in time, give us a fuller and more accurate picture of the extent of identity fraud and its impact on the public.