Check your credit profile to stamp out fraud, urges expert
May 20, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
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.
ID fraud insurance policies increasing
May 16, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
The number of ID fraud insur
ance policies has been growing in recent years as ID theft has become more prevalent, but many people still have not considered taking out this kind of insurance, Equifax has said.
According to the company, many people do not think they will be affected by ID fraud and therefore do not take out an insurance policy against it.
The UK’s fraud prevention service CIFAS said that 77,500 cases of ID fraud were reported last year.
In February 2008, research from the insurance company CPP found that London is the worst place for credit and debit card fraud and theft, with 20 per cent of Londoners reporting that they have had credit cards stolen and 28 per cent saying they have been a victim of credit card fraud in the past.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director of Equifax, said: “There are more policies out there and they are quite varied in what they cover, from basic support to more involved support, but they do vary in terms of what they will offer you.”
