Call Sign December 2007 - Page 10 - DAC DRIVER VICTIM OF ID THEFT

*Call Sign* rarely prints anything where the name of the person involved is hidden, but we do make rare exceptions and this case is certainly one of them. A Dial-a-Cab driver (we’ll call him Bill) had recently arranged to buy a second hand cab from another DaC driver (who we’ll refer to as Bob). Because the cab involved was still fairly new, there was a finance agreement involved and that’s when Bill’s problem came to light. He was told that because he hadn’t made any payments for the Mercedes he had bought the previous year, his name had been put onto a debtors list and that he would be unable to get finance from any reputable company because they all had the same information referring to Bill’s non-payment. There was only one problem, Bill hadn’t bought any car last year - let alone a Merc! Bill told Call Sign: "I had spoken to Bob about buying his cab and we’d agreed everything. Then I had a shock when the finance company said that according to their records, I still hadn’t made a payment on my last purchase – the Mercedes. I explained that I hadn’t bought a Merc, but they couldn’t accept my word and there was then no alternative but to call in the police." The DaC driver continued: "Eventually they came round and believed me that I hadn’t bought the vehicle and said it looked as though I had been a victim of ID theft – a crime that is becoming more prevalent. I gave the police a statement and they now believe that the Mercedes was bought using my details and taken out of the country within 24 hours. They also think that it will probably take up to two years for me to get back onto the HP registers. He ended by saying:	DAC DRIVER VICTIM OF ID THEFT
	"So far, other than losing out on the cab and having the police involved, it hasn’t made any other difference. But should I want to buy anything over the next few years, it will have to be cash or nothing!" There were 43,000 victims of Identity theft in 2003, but by 2006 that was up to 80,000. As the type of identity fraud varies, so does the impact on those whose identity have been stolen. It could be a one-off theft involving just one fraudulent application or transaction, such as Bill has gone through, but some persistent and skilled fraudsters can comprehensively steal an identity and cause a great deal of distress to the victim. It can cost up to Ł8,000 to clear a name in addition to the considerable damage to their credit status. However, many also claim that the police aren’t interested in ID fraud because of the time and resources involved and in the eyes of many legal associations, it is the financial institution that lend the money who are the victims. The person whose ID has been stolen comes a poor second. Lending organisations are considered the only victims because they are the ones who have been defrauded. Consequently, the damage inflicted on the reputation of the victims and the time they spend mending the trail of destruction, cannot easily be redressed. Any compensation needs to be fought for through the courts. Until recently there has been insufficient deterrent to	criminals. Sentences in UK courts have tended to be light, although with the growth in identity theft and with the implementation of The Fraud Act 2006, there are indications that this is beginning to change. But it still remains difficult, if not impossible, to retrieve the funds lost to a fraudster or to extract compensation in the unusual event of them being caught. How do they get hold of identities? In the past, they have exploited loopholes in the issue of 'identity documents' such as passports, driving licenses and birth certificates. They manage to obtain official documents to prove a false identity. Around 2,500 fraudulent applications for driving licenses were detected by the DVLA in the 12 month period to March 2007. In 2005 almost 5000 driving tests were stopped due to doubts over the identity of the person sitting the test, whilst 16,500 applications for passports received by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) in the 12 months to September 2006 were found to be fraudulent! The British Security Industry Association told Call Sign: "With the shocking security breach by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs involving 25 million child benefit claimants, we should all be learning lessons about the importance of protecting confidential information. Shredding your important documents when not required is one of those things."

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