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MP's warning over card fraud risks
7:30am Saturday 20th September 2008
DATA protection Minister Michael Wills was presented with credit cards applied for in his name in a bid to highlight the danger of making personal details accessible.
The Swindon MP appeared on the BBC 3 programme Mischief: Your Identity For Sale.
On the programme, BBC journalist Rebecca Wilcox carried out research on Mr Wills digging up a host of information, from his love of historical novels to his mother’s maiden name.
“I want to know more about this man than he knows himself,” she said.
She then used his details to apply for 12 credit and store cards.
They included HSBC, Lloyds, Capital One, Natwest, Alliance and Leicester and Virgin credit cards, a House of Fraser store card and a Top Shop card.
And as if that wasn’t enough, she also wrote a cheque for £133,000,000 in his name, made payable to Richard Thomas the information commissioner, who has been put in place to protect the public from ID fraud.
The cheque came complete with Mr Wills’s signature.
The journalist met with Mr Wills to explain what she had done and to highlight how easy it was to discover details such as his mother’s maiden name, his love of skiing, and his passion for historic novels, yachting and boating.
During the interview the MP said: “It’s terrifying isn’t it?”
After the programme was aired on Thursday last week and again on Monday this week, Mr Wills said the implications that the BBC defrauded him would cause concern to Adver readers.
“The BBC programme was wrong to imply that their creation of credit cards in my name left me more vulnerable to crime,” he said.
“The Banking Code makes it clear that unless someone acts fraudulently or without reasonable care, which was not the case here, they will not be liable for losses caused by someone else.”
Mr Wills went on to explain: “To have taken out the credit cards, which the BBC did not, and to use them would have been serious criminal offences, as the BBC did acknowledge.”
To help protect against abuse of identity details, members of the public can contact CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service about their Protective Registration service.
Once registered, if anyone applies to a CIFAS member using his details to obtain a financial service, that CIFAS member will automatically be alerted that the person registered is concerned about the risk of identity fraud and that his personal details may be used to make fraudulent applications for goods and services.
Visit www.cifas.org.uk or write to CIFAS at PO Box 1141, Bradford, BD1 5UR.
Your Say YourSwindon
PaulD, Swindon says...
8:29am Sat 20 Sep 08
just make them up and then never tell anyone what they are. Just make sure you remember what you entered!
Or you could use a deliberate mis-spelling of the real details that you will remember, or use number replacement for certain letters. e.g. J0n3s or 5m1th
The security questions are just a security measure (that supposedly only you know the answers too) - you are not committing fraud by not providing the actual real answers.
Always be aware of anybody in the street, at your doorstep or online who asks you for these type of details. If you receive an email from ANYBODY asking for such details directly or asking you to confirm details on a website - then simply delete it.
Roger Wilson, Aylesbury says...
9:44am Sat 20 Sep 08
Why would anyone get tempted to do identity fraud when they know that their signature personalised with their ID sticker will expose their identity? Current signature system does not even expose person's gender and so boosts identity fraud. Only this system will deter use of fake documents.
Why would anyone get tempted to use stolen or skimmed cards when they know that they will not be able to activate the transaction without new security code which will change to a new value after every transaction?
This system will also eliminate the need for us to protect our personal an card details since fraudsters will not be tempted to misuse these stolen details.
Organisations would make their customers personalise signatures by letting them use mobile phone size device which will capture image and activate printer to print their ID sticker virtually instantly.
Proposed system will deter virtually all fraud crimes including those Chip and PIN, data protection and even biometric ID cards will not deter.
This KEY and PIN system could be treated like international ID card since it will personalise signature and PIN to the right individual in any country in the world.
To protect the public and entire business industry from becoming victims of fraud government and banks should act now and exploit proposed system before it is too late to stop a fraud crunch which will be far worse than credit crunch.
Bobfm, South Marston says...
9:51am Sat 20 Sep 08
Big Mac, Old Town says...
10:59am Sat 20 Sep 08
Is this the man that has been in charge during a period of record numbers of government losses of sensitive personal data? Why, yes, yes it is.
This article is yet more evidence that Mr Wills and his heavily cossetted Labour pals are completely out of touch with what goes on, daily, in normal people's lives.
who dat?, Swindon says...
9:03pm Sat 20 Sep 08
Bobfm, South Marston says...
8:33am Sun 21 Sep 08
Bobfm, South Marston says...
8:39am Sun 21 Sep 08
The Government proposes to violate that principle. It is "floating" the idea of allowing medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies access to medical records without asking the consent of the person whose medical conditions the data records.
That proposal, were it ever to become law, would be an outrageous infringement of every individual's basic right to protect their privacy and the integrity of their person.
Your records belong to you, and the Government is not entitled to use them without your permission. Many people do not want medical personnel whom they do not know scanning their records; still fewer want market researchers selling their data to others.
Politics: news, video, comment and analysis
Everyone is, of course, entitled to give consent for their medical records to be used in that way. But no government which respects individual rights can dispense with obtaining an individual's approval before it passes those records on to others.
The claims that medical research would benefit enormously from dispensing with consent are as irrelevant here as they are with surgery.
If Britain is to remain a free society, this proposal must be quickly and definitively rejected.
Sunday Telegraph.
Al Smith, Swindon says...
9:43am Sun 21 Sep 08
Visual Security International Limited , 9 Bond Close, Aylesbury, Bucks. HP21 8FZ
Interestingly enough the Exec. Director is call Raja hmm sounds a bit similar to Roger doesn't it?
Oh and bit of security advice to anyone running a business from what is clearly a residential address use a PO Box either that or don't shove your name and home address on a website and then go posting its URL around.
Oxford, Toothill says...
10:50am Sun 21 Sep 08
Security word for this fall-area, quite right too!
mick094m, liverpool says...
8:36pm Thu 9 Oct 08
..........How stupid of a reply is that no wonder it is so easy to steal a persons indentity,what better starting point than a National Insurance Number,anyone on any form of payment from the DWP will find this is used by all banks
Your sayYourSwindon
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MP Michael Wills with credit cards
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Bobfm, South Marston says...
7:38am Sat 20 Sep 08
Really Michael, just one minor point, that's what criminals do, they commit crime, hardly a bright statement coming from a man whose job it is to protect us from such identity theft.
Given his Government have failed to stem the flow of personal data lost I think he should spend more time actually vetting those who have out sourced contracts dealing with our Data.
The fact is we still have no idea where all these discs and data sticks are. To say there are not believed to be in criminal hands is hardly reassurance.