A new incident of financial fraud was reported every 15 seconds in the UK last year, according to data from Experian.
In figures published today (April 2) the credit reporting company found third-party credit card fraud, where a fraudster makes an application using someone else’s personal details, increased by almost a third (31 per cent) in 2018 when compared with the previous year.
Experian warned criminals were increasingly selling victims' personal data cheaply online, with credit and debit card numbers sold for between £5 - £75 and passport details for £1,500.
Last month UK Finance reported a total of £1.2bn was stolen by criminals committing fraud last year, consisting of £354m in authorised fraud and £845m in unauthorised fraud.
In an unauthorised fraudulent transaction the account holder does not provide authorisation for the payment to proceed and the transaction is carried out by a third party.
This differs from authorised fraud whereby a genuine customer is duped into processing a payment to another account which is controlled by a criminal.
However the trade body confirmed the financial services industry prevented £1.66bn of unauthorised fraud in 2018, with £318m of this being attempted remote banking fraud.
The figures come as Experian launched its latest fraud prevention service, Identity Plus, designed to protect consumers in tackling identity fraud.
The service provides customers with daily fraud reports, fraud alerts triggered when accounts are opened or closed and when a customer’s credit report is searched and web monitoring to scan websites which sell personal details and alerts customers to suspicious activity.
The company stated checking a credit report regularly was a way of protecting against identity fraud but a recent YouGov survey has found 49 per cent of adults have never checked their report, while of those who have done, a fifth had done so more than three years ago.
Tom Hopkins, director of subscription products at Experian, said: "With more and more of our lives lived online, it’s important that people are taking steps to protect their identity and keep their details safe.
"You wouldn’t leave your door unlocked at night, so why wouldn’t you take the same precautions when it comes to your own personal information?"
rachel.addison@ft.com
