Support For Victims Of Identity Theft

EDM number 2614 in 2005-06, proposed by Greg Pope on 19/07/2006.

That this House is deeply concerned by the escalating problem of identity theft, which is the United Kingdom's fastest growing crime, affects thousands of people and costs the United Kingdom economy an estimated £1.7 billion each year; recognises that, although banks, retailers and Government agencies are the target of fraud, the true cost is borne by individual victims in terms of time, stress and the difficulties involved in untangling the financial mess that can take years to resolve; supports the National Consumer Council's blueprint for action, which makes practical recommendations to ensure that consumers receive the help they need; calls for business to fund a one-stop-shop ID Theft Support Centre so that victims can report crime, confident that their problem will be sorted out with all the relevant companies and organisations; suggests that industry issues good practice guidelines to help victims of fraud to clear their name and sort out their credit record; strongly recommends that business notifies consumers when there has been unauthorised access to their personal data; and calls for the Home Office to ensure that police forces provide ID theft victims with a crime reference number, which is essential for consumers trying to clear their name.

This motion has been signed by a total of 61 MPs.