The Money Stop

With a recent report finding that account fraud is on the up, a financial expert has urged consumers to regularly check their credit profiles to help stamp out the crime.

David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, said that current financial conditions are pushing people to extreme lengths to get hold of credit, but that consumers can protect themselves by checking their credit profiles to make sure that fraudulent activity is not taking place.

According to research by the UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS, the number of instances of facility takeover, or account takeover, increased by 146 per cent in the first three months of 2008 when compared with the same period last year.

“If you are a consumer and you haven’t recently checked your credit reference, go and have a look at it just to make sure there is not anyone out there making fraudulent applications on your behalf,” Mr Kuo advised.

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