False identity fraud continues its relentless rise with a 48% increase. There were 28,879 cases compared to 19,510 in the same period last year. Impersonation fraud, at 21,421 cases, continues to grow. Every impersonation involves an innocent victim, many of whom are victims of street crime, burglary or assault and have had personal identity documents stolen. CIFAS offers a ‘Protective Registration’ service for victims to protect their identity from misuse.
Insurance companies continue to make strides in identifying and filing frauds, with insurance claims frauds showing the highest proportional increase of any of the CIFAS categories. Members of CIFAS reported fraud savings of £213 million for the half year, a significant increase on the £176 million reported in the first half of 2002.
