Fraudsters are now widely targeting existing bank account
holders because credit is now harder to acquire.
The all-party parliamentary
group on identity fraud said crooks are finding it more
difficult to use
fake identities to open new accounts. This is because of
restrictions on credit driven by the ongoing
credit crunch.
The parliamentary group says there has been a fall in
traditional forms of
identity theft, including "application fraud", where people use
stolen or false documents to open an account.
But the group says there has been a vast increase in cybercrime,
where
fraudsters use the internet and
e-mail to try to
access people's existing accounts.
One
bogus email now in circulation
pretends to be
from HM Revenue and Customs. It asks recipients for their bank
account details to receive a promised tax rebate.
Nigel
Evans, chairman of the parliamentary group, said criminals were
being forced by the credit crunch to focus on individual accounts
which offer "a guaranteed financial resource".