§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of UK residents have been a victim of identity fraud in each of the last five years. [170327]
§ Mr. BrowneIt is not a criminal offence for a person simply to use another identity. However, false identities are often used to facilitate other offences such as deception and money laundering.
The police do not generally record incidents of identity fraud because prosecutions are recorded for the offences facilitated by false identities.
However, members of CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service for the private sector, identified 74,000 cases of identity and impersonation fraud in 2002 and 101,000 in 2003.
§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the communication strategy to ensure engagement with the public regarding identity cards will be completed. [170528]
§ Mr. BrowneThe identity cards communication strategy is an ongoing activity to ensure that the main audiences with an interest in the Identity Cards programme are kept up to date on progress and are informed how the programme may affect them. The communication strategy to engage the public will be regularly reviewed and developed alongside the programme's design, development and implementation to prepare for the roll-out of the first identity cards from 2007–08.