Current account fraud in the UK has risen by
58% between the end of the year and end of March 2011, according to
latest the Fraud Index from Experian.

The index registered 35 in every 10,000
current account applications as fraudulent in the first quarter of
fiscal 2011.

Attempted current account application fraud
has thus overtaken fraud in mortgage (up by 7% quarter-on-quarter
to 34 per 10,000 applications) and automotive finance fraud rates
(down by 21% quarter-on-quarter to 27 per 10,000 applications).

While the ratio of attempted fraud for every
10,000 applications may not seem huge, the number of actual or
attempted fraud is massive, considering that the UK’s largest banks
have millions of current accounts.

 

24% rise in financial products applications
fraud

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Other findings included a 24%
quarter-on-quarter rise in fraudulent applications for financial
products (20 per 10,000).

Credit card fraud remained static at 11 per
10,000 applications in the first quarter.

Nick Mothershaw, director of fraud &
Identity solutions at Experian, said it was “vital” that financial
service providers validate and verify identifies of customers
properly.

“As increasingly sophisticated identity
verification and fraud prevention technologies have made life more
difficult for fraudsters, some have turned their attentions to
current accounts, believing them to be a softer target to then
launch attacks on more lucrative credit card and mortgage
products.”

 

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