More and more people are falling victim to ID theft, it has been pointed out.
Credit card fraud rates would drop if consumers became less "trusting", Equifax has suggested.
The financial firm has recommended that people become much more careful about giving out personal information, due to the risk that these details can be used by ID fraudsters. The comments have been made in the wake of the release of new Experian figures, showing a 66 per cent rise in fraud cases in the UK last year over 2006.
Moreover, a study from CIFAS suggests that the scams have increased in number still further over recent months: the firm reports that fraud cases have gone up by ten per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008. CIFAS also said that facility takeover, whereby a scam artist impersonates a consumer in order to gain access to their credit card or bank accounts, had gone up by 146 per cent in this period.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, advised: "You have to be very much more cautious about your information. Your personal credit profile is worth probably several times more than the maximum credit limit that you’ve got on a credit card in your wallet at the moment, if it gets into the wrong hands."
He added: "That’s what people need to be wary of, don’t necessarily be so trusting that you’re information isn’t going to be taken and used in the wrong way."
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