Identity fraud, where stolen identities are used to obtain credit, goods and services, is one of the UK’s fastest growing crimes. New figures from Experian’, the information solutions company, which provides direct assistance to thousands of victims of identity fraud, show that fraudulent activity goes undetected by the victim for an average of 16 months. The longest running case of identity fraud recorded by the company took almost four and a half years (1,618 days) to be detected by the victim.

In response to this worrying trend and growing consumer demand for more protection from fraud, Experian has developed CreditExpert, the UK’s first personal credit intelligence service. CreditExpert sends you a message by e-mail or SMS text when important changes have taken place on your credit report. You can then access your credit report online via www.creditexpert.co.uk to see exactly what those changes are.
Jill Stevens, Director of Consumer Relations at Experian, commented: ‘Identity fraud is upsetting for consumers. Once detected, it can sometimes take two years to sort out the damage from fraudulent activity, which could make it difficult for victims to get a mortgage, a credit card or a bank loan in that time. It’s no surprise that people are looking for better ways to protect themselves from these unscrupulous crooks.

‘Our research has shown that credit fraudsters often open accounts and use them ‘normally’ for a few months to gain a lender’s confidence, enabling them to ’set up’ the account for a big spend. The fraud can then go undetected by the lender until it’s too late. Because CreditExpert notifies you when the application for credit is made, it means the window of opportunity for fraudsters can be dramatically reduced to potentially less than a week.

‘CreditExpert allows you to track changes whenever you want, monitor which organisations are searching your report and notify Experian and lenders of changes to your financial status that could affect your borrowing potential. It’s all about empowering consumers with the tools and the intelligence they need to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters and to manage their credit most effectively.’

Credit Expert was the first service to provide UK consumers with online access to their complete credit history. This means viewing not only public information such as county court judgments or electoral roll entries, but also seeing details of loans, loan terms and their repayment history, as well as the sources of the information and details of any organisation that has searched the report.

Experian responds to approximately a million requests for credit reports every year and helps many consumers with credit-related issues, including giving assistance to the victims of identity fraud. And as the threat of identity fraud shows no signs of slowing down and the use of credit continues to grow in the UK, services like CreditExpert will become more and more important, as consumers want to continually monitor and manage their personal credit information.

While concerns continue to mount over the level of goverment borrowing in the U.S. in the U.K. it is the ever-growing level of consumer borrowing that is causing anxiety. The following article was written by Richard Miles in Today’s Times.

LIBERAL Democrats yesterday unveiled a ten-point plan to rein in consumer debt after claiming that the nation’s personal borrowings would hit 1,000 billion by the summer.

Vincent Cable, the Lib Dems Treasury spokesman, said that British households owed banks and other creditors more than the combined foreign currency debt of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Dr Cable said the ‘biggest borrowing binge in history’ had kept the UK economy going but that this policy was unsustainable. ‘Any sensible person will know that you cannot simply keep on borrowing more than you can afford to pay back,’ he said.

Outlining his plans to tackle the debt mountain, Dr Cable called on financial authorities to monitor levels of household borrowing. Mortgage companies should be issued with guidance on ’safe’ lending limits, he said. And reserve deposits should be used to smoothe ‘boom and bust’ in the mortgage market.

Curbs on unsolicited credit promotion were needed, as well as a crackdown on loan sharks. Hefty early redemption penalties should be discouraged and Office of Fair Trading rules on credit more rigorously enforced. Excessive rates on store cards should be policed more closely.

Dr Cable also called on the Government to establish independent, low-cost advice centres, paid for by credit providers and the investment industry. Lastly, he wants a widening of the remit of the social fund to permit short-term loans to low-income families in financial crisis.

The Lib Dems estimate that unsecured lending has grown 50 per cent since Labour came to power in 1997. Bank of England figures published last week showed total lending to individuals at 934 billion.