Report - Guardian

104 The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005‘identity fraud’ for the purposes of this estimate and calculate the costs of identity fraudin Britain.Will ID cards help to combat ID fraud?Identity fraud can have a devastating impact on the victim, whether the victim be thetrue ‘owner’ of the identity or someone who suffers as a result of relying on thecredentials of a person proffering a fake identity. However, the government’s 2002estimate of £1.3bn has been called into question repeatedly A 2004 conferenceorganised by the Law Society 286 heard that the Cabinet Office report was rather morereticent on the issue of ID cards. The Cabinet Office also admitted that the oft-quotedfigure of £1.3bn was derived from a “best guess”. When the data is more closelyanalysed, the conclusions are less certain.The accounting for the £1.3bn figure resulted from a canvassing of 18 organisations.The Cabinet Office estimated financial losses by quantifying results from only seven.Table 2 - The Cabinet Office total estimates for Identity Theft, from 2002 report.Organisation Costs (£m) NotesHM Customs &ExciseVATMoney launderingWe analyse these figures in detail below.215 Total MTIC fraud £1.7 – £2.6bn(midpoint £2.15bn). Assumes IDfraud is 10% of this.395 Based on £490m over 18 months;consistent with £200m in c.LondonDH Health Authorities 0.75 Study done in 2 HAs only – nobroader extrapolation permitted2816 multiple registrationsDWPInstrument of PaymentNo figuresCSANo figuresChild BenefitNo figuresPensions & overseasNo figuresWelfare fraud 35 C 1% of all welfare fraud (£2-5bn)Home Office Immigration 36 @ 50 pcm (Heathrow) x 10; £6000per clandestine entrantAPACS Credit cards 370 Includes use of counterfeit,lost/stolen cards and card notpresent fraud – 2001 estimateInsurancecompanies250 Based on £1bn total; 50% premeditated;50% of this being directID fraudCIFAS 62.5 Value of false ID/victim ofimpersonation fraud (by number offrauds reported)Total£1,364m286 Law Society conference ‘Identity Cards: benefit or burden’, London, March 22, 2004. Report available athttp://www.lawsociety.org.uk/