Londoners have been found to be at higher risk of falling victim to ID theft.
Middle class Britons living in affluent areas are proportionally more vulnerable to loans fraud and other forms of ID theft, two recent studies form Experian and Symantec show.
The credit reference firm has tracked a rise in victims of ID fraud for 2007: 6,000 cases were reported to Experian last year, compared to just 3,500 in 2006. Moreover, the company claims that those contacts represent a small proportion of people who suffer fraudsters taking out credit or buying goods under their name.
Experian said that Londoners were twice as likely to fall victim to the theft as those living elsewhere in the country. Outside of the city, affluent areas such as Great Cambourne in Cambridgeshire and Far Cotton near Northampton were identified as ID fraud hotspots. It was also found that the average victim is aged between 26 and 45, earns a salary of over £50,000 and owns his or her own home.
Meanwhile, security firm Symantec has released its own ID fraud research, which tracked the corporate costs of the crime in the UK for the second six months of 2007.
The Register reports that, while mail order firms lost an average of £219 due to the thefts, this total went up to £1,365 among credit and store card providers and to £7,556 among loans providers. Topping the list were hire purchase providers, who took an average financial hit of £28,424 over the period.
Compare loans via money.co.uk
