During the first quarter of 2010 there was a 19.86% increase in identity fraud when compared with the same period in 2009, according to CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service.

It also found that the number of victims of impersonation increased by over 20% compared with the first quarter of 2009, while overall fraud levels remain consistent, with nearly 60,000 proven frauds identified in the first three months of 2010.

As CIFAS has previously reported, the surge in identity frauds that make use of the victim’s current address details (which are therefore more sophisticated and difficult to detect) is a trend that has become more pronounced during the past 12 months. A 44.73% increase in identity frauds where the facility, product, policy or claim was granted (fraud was proved when it was too late, only after the facility had been offered,) is proof of this “sinister development””