Criminals are no longer only looking to steal identities that belong to the living.
The Telegraph recently broke down a new identity theft scheme that criminals are currently practising. Fraudsters are actively seeking out identities that belong to deceased individuals. Their goal is to use these identities to get better rates on car insurance premiums by insuring vehicles in deceased people’s names.
Chances are that many of the criminals committing this form of fraud have poor driving records. Upgrades in Police technology have created the need for bad drivers to keep their history hidden. Keeping an uninsured vehicle is not a plausible option. To some criminals, identity theft is the solution.
The article details an occurrence experienced by, Judith Sprout widow of former Tory Minister, Ian Sproat’s. She noticed something wasn’t right when she received a letter prosecuting her late husband for speeding.
The first I knew of this was in August last year when I received a letter from an insurance company asking for bank details to renew Ian’s insurance. He had died in 2011 and so, of course, I knew it was a mistake
According to police and the IFED (Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department), this discovery is one in a few. However, it is important to keep in mind that the biggest “perk” of committing identity fraud of a deceased person is that it is hard for anyone to notice. There may be countless cases of this type of fraud that has yet to be revealed.
How to Stay Safe
While this new threat is scary, it shouldn’t distract you from the present threat of identity theft that still plagues millions of people a year. Here, at ScoresMatter, You can make sure you are being proactive by monitoring if your data is for sale by criminals on the Dark Web. Stop wondering if you are a victim, find out today.