The latest figures published in October 2008 estimate the cost of ID Fraud to the UK economy to be £1.72 billion or around £25 for every adult in Britain.  It is recognised that this estimate is likely to be conservative and the actual cost is likely to be higher.

The Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System (CIFAS), the UK’s fraud prevention service estimates that Identity Fraud accounts for criminal cash flow of £310 million per day.  Estimates from CIFAS suggest that in 2006 the number of victims of impersonation was up 19.1% from 2005.

Fraud on credit and debit cards rose to £609.9 million in 2008 and has a heavy cost to us all as it is often used to fund serious organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism.

The problem with these statistics is that Identity Crime is an under reported crime and very often an undetected crime.  Many people and businesses don’t report it to the police.  Many individuals have no idea that their identity has been stolen. It is estimated that the victim doesn't realize what's happened for 13 months.

The situation is even worse in the USA.  In 2005 it was estimated that one American had his identity stolen every 4 seconds.  It takes a victim an average of 330 hours  to get their life back to normal and their credit report cleaned.  The thief has just a 1 in 700 chance of getting caught. Back in 2001 it was discovered that 12% of ID theft victims were the unhappy recipients of a wrongful criminal record.

It’s undoubtedly a growth industry!  It’s relatively simple.  It’s relatively low risk. The chances of being detected and prosecuted are low.  It's known as an Equal Opportunity employer;  it's estimated that roughly half of identity thieves are women - mostly because it's a relatively low risk crime.

If detection and recovery is low the only real defence is prevention.  We all have a responsibility to make the theft of our personal data and identity as difficult as possible.