'Identity fraud tsar needed now'

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The All Party Group on Identity Fraud said the creation of a Tsar would enable there to be a joined-up, focused approach to the problem across the Government, police and private sector.

It is also calling for greater investment in an awareness campaign to educate the public and businesses about identity theft, as well as more support for victims of the crime.

Other recommendations include giving the police adequate resources to tackle the problem, including having dedicated identity fraud officers, and imposing tougher sanctions on organisations that put people's personal information in danger.

The All Party Group is also calling on the banking industry to accept that identity fraud is a growing problem and to take immediate action to protect customers and itself.

Identity fraud involves criminals using someone else's identify, usually to apply for credit or claim benefits. The Government estimates that it costs the economy about £1.7 billion a year and during 2006 there were 171,488 cases.

But consumer research suggests the problem may be far bigger than this, with recent surveys suggesting as many as one in four people may have been affected.

The group, which was set up in 2006 and tasked by then Home Office Minister Andy Burnham to conduct a study into the area, said it was vital methods were developed to assess the full scale of the fraud in the UK, as without these figures it was difficult to target high-risk groups.

It said that despite the growing problem of identity fraud, many people were failing to taken simple steps to stop themselves becoming victims, such as shredding documents before they throw them away, checking their bank statements and monitoring their credit reference. It added that young people were particularly bad at taking these simple steps, with one in six 16 to 25-year-olds publishing information about themselves on the internet that could be used by an identity fraudster.

It is calling for there to be an advertising campaign on social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Myspace to raise awareness among younger people.