Chiswick a Hot Spot for Identity Fraud

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W4 residents five times more likely to be victims

Research by the credit company Experian has identified Chiswick as one of the areas of the UK most likely to be hit by identity fraud.

Using data gathered from the people who had contacted their Victims of Fraud service, Experian have published a report for the whole of the UK which shows where this crime is most prevalent. The advisers in Experian’s Victims of Fraud service have helped more than 4,000 consumers since the service was set up in July 2003. This is the first major project of its kind and the dossier details the findings of that research.

Although identity fraud is a crime that affects people across the country, Londoners are most at risk from the crime. Of the 54 ‘very high risk’ areas identified by Experian, 20 are London postal sectors and 34 are located inside the M25. Chiswick is ninth most at risk in the London area.

The analysis indicates that residents of London have a combined average risk score of 449. With a score of 471 the risk in Chiswick is nearly 5 times the national average. (see table below)

One Chiswick resident hit by fraud told us, "I received a store card from Debenham's through the post which I had never requested. Then a similar envelope arrived for someone who had lived at my house over a decade ago. The fraud department of the credit card company said that a man and a woman had applied for a card in the store using my details and this other person. A second card arrived a few weeks later from another store."

The most popular modus operandi of fraudsters over the past four years has been present and previous address frauds. The first is where the victim’s details are used by someone living at the same address or the fraudster places a postal redirect on the address, the second involves the fraudster using the victim’s name and their previous address to take advantage of any credit history that has not been transferred to a new address. Although of less overall significance, the percentage of frauds resulting from the theft of personal effects has fallen by more than 50 per cent over the past four years.

Top Twenty Identity Fraud Post Codes in London Area

October 27, 2006