The 25 riskiest postcodes for ID fraud

Identity fraud has risen by 66 per cent in the last year, Experian says, but in some UK streets, residents are more at risk than the rest of us.

Anyone who is between 25 and 46, earns more than £50,000, is self-employed or a company director or rents their home rather than owning it outright, is at a much higher risk of being targeted by fraudsters.

Experian has also published a breakdown of the most vulnerable postcodes, based on the cases it handled last year. Surprisingly, some of the leafiest parts of London are on the list. Do you live in one of these fraud hotspots? Have you been a victim of ID fraud? Let us know by posting your comments below.

1. SW17 6 (College Gardens, London SW)

2. E14 5 (Chancellor Passage, London E)

3. E14 2 (Clove Crescent, London E)

4. CB23 5 (Great Cambourne, Cambridgeshire)

5. SW13 8 (Riverview Gardens, London SW13)

6. KT19 7 (Chessington Road, West Ewell, Kingston upon Thames)

7. SW19 7 (Wimbledon, London SW)

8. SW11 6 (Grandison Road, London SW)

9. NN4 5 (Far Cotton, Northampton)

10. SW11 1 (Cabul Road, London SW)

11. TS17 5 (Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees)

12. WD18 8 (Holywell, Watford)

13. GU51 1 (Rotten Green, Guildford)

14. PO15 7 (Swanwick, Fareham, Portsmouth)

15. BA13 2 (Westbury Leigh, Bath)

16. SN25 4 (Elstree Way, Haydon Wick, Swindon)

17. EC2Y 8 (Barbican, London EC)

18. NW3 5 (South Hampstead, London NW)

19. SW15 2 (West Hill, Putney, London SW)

20. BS16 7 (Emersons Green, Bristol)

21. NW3 1 (High Street, Hampstead, London NW)

22. NW3 4 (Haverstock Hill, London NW)

23. SW18 1 (Westhill Road, London SW)

24. ME4 3 (St Marys Island, Chatham, Kent)

25. W1H 1 (Crawford Street, London W)

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Comments

[Jemmy]

It's all down to people, or rather organisations being to lax with our info. People can apply to government agencies for our info with far too much ease. I work in a lot of places for which you have to be security cleared and vetted to a high degree like the Home Office. Once on site, the rules dictate that you are escorted etc etc. Now you would be surprised how well they DON'T search individuals, how they leave them to work alone, how sensitive papers are just left out for all to peruse.
It annoys the hell out of me and sometimes 'I' yes that's I, refuse to give MY details. I just wonder what they did with the details I gave them last time, and the time before that and that and so on...How many copies of my info have dropped behind an MPs desk?
About bank accounts; First never keep over £25,000 with one bank as if the proverbial hits the fan this is likely to be as far as any insurance will stretch - (Northern Rock).
Second keep your savings in the kind of account which requires you to physically visit the branch to debit or transfer money out - (Bldg Soc. pass book)

[FRAN]

2 years ago, some fraudster had the temerity to use my debit card(which I rarely use) details to pay for stuff in 2 different shops on the same day.

I was baffled as to how he/she did it. The shops in question are about 10 miles away from where I live and work.Luckily,out of the blues, I just decided to check my balance that same evening and was dumbfounded at the pathetic sum I was left with.

My bank dealt with it efficiently but it remains one of those puzzles one never gets to solve.

[N Moore]

Add the thumb print and photograph of the card holder should help in cracking cloning and any other copying.
If this technique can be used abroad why cant we use it in the UK? All too difficult yet again?

[ian]

good god, this describes me perfectly, i have not had my id stolen as far as i am aware though someone did manage to klone my bank card, i'm always careful with pins and cards and shred everything
shicking to see my postcode so far up the list

[kat]

matt, just how can your fiancee be certain she is safe with you? Are you a id-fraud-crime-bustin'-superhero?

[Tirso]

The reason why this happens esp. in rental accommodation is because the agents get a privatereferencing agency to do a credit check. BUT not before taking down your life history incl. NI numbers etc. These agencies are private ltd companies with transient employees. Spot the problem?

[Kim]

I have a shredder into which goes everything with my name and address on, credit/debit card receipts and old bills.

When I put my card into a cash machine, I always cover my card with my hand when I put it into (and out of) the slot and also cover the digits when I am keying them in. The same goes for when I use my card in a shop. I also never use my credit/debit card in little corner shop/one man type outlets.

The only worry for me is using my credit card online and i obviously have online protection plus I have one card that I use only online (I don't have a pin number for it)and I would never, ever use my debit card online.

Of course, me protecting myself is useless if certain agencies are careless with my idenity.

While this does not guarantee me protection, I think I am doing all that is possible to protect myself.

[Phill]

I agree with those who state that the Police appear to be disinterested. I have been a victim, and originaly got the same impression. However eventually they did take my case on. I now feel rather more generous and would say it's not so much disinterest, it's more like totally under resourced. So if you are a victim...persist. As for the fraudsters, watch out, we're coming to get you!

[Fweezabird]

How can I avail of this cloning? Thank you.

[Hany Mustapha, Kingston upon Thames]

I was the 'victim' of identity fraud last year, but it was caught in time by the credit card company.
I, sadly or joyfully, fall slap into the middle of the target zone for age, occupation, earnings and location - I'm about a mile from one of the top 10 postcodes and less than 5 miles from many others. I got a call from Natwest asking if I'd authorised a transfer of £500 into a Nationwide account. I hadn't. The transaction was stopped as was my card which was later reissued with a new number.

What was interesting was that the perpetrator was able to quote my mother's maiden name - and that certainly isn't written down anywhere. "It must have been bank staff" said the man from Natwest.

Police? Utterly uninterested. "It's only 500 quid mate, and you didn't even lose it." Too much like hard work I guess when they could be behind desks processing speed camera tickets.

The solution for me was to reduce my usage of my 'regular' credit cards dramatically. I have two cards with Natwest - one for personal expenditure and one for business expenses. I also now have a prepaid Mastercard from Crewcard onto which I transfer a couple of hundred pounds every couple of weeks and use that instead. Maximum liability - never more than a couple of hundred quid. Natwest, of course, are missing out on a whole bunch of commission from my spending. And I'm sure it's not just Natwest suffering... until all the banks get to the root of this issue - systems that allow their staff to see passwords / identification features in full, that'll remain the case. Why not simply present and ask for the 1st and 3rd characters, for example!

[Anne.O'Nymouse]

With the exception of the TS17 Inglby Barwick postcode, all these postcodes are in Southern or South Western England, which is interesting.

I'm amused by the sentence "rents their home rather than owning it outright"- as if owning is an option ! As a 30 yr old science graduate, I don't even know anybody of my generation who can afford to own their home "outright"...

[Ellie]

I haven't been a victim of ID fruad (yet) but I have seen people openly going through the rubbish on my street (SE11 4) obviously looking for paperwork. What could I do? Make a citizen's arrest?!

[LFN]

Shocking stuff indeed. I've been living in the riskiest area for about two months and I've had my card cloned/skimmed and my housemate has had someone try and open a credit card in her name. However, the banks involved have been very pro-active and called us but even still, that it should happen is awful. Indeed, shred everything and then pour baked beans on it!

[KWC]

The authorities are disinterested in such crimes because the don't fully understand the issues and the crook is always at least one step ahead. It will be another unsolved crime to sully their clean-up statistics.

[Jason Lovell]

The trend towards separating out our papers and envelopes for recycling and leaving in recycling bags overnight in the streets overnight makes ID copying very easy - fraudsters don't even need to get their hands dirty to get key information. This might explain the prevalence of ID cloning in some of the better run leafy post-codes which run these schemes. My advice is to shred everything!

[Andrew]

My grandmother had her identity stolen. The police and companies concerened couldn't have been less interested. No wonder this crime is rocketing!

[Adrian]

I am surrounded by 4 high identity fraud postcodes and right in the middle of one and my identity has not yet been high jacked.What is wrong with me?

[Matt]

My fiance's card was cloned in Putney and she lost over £1500, and the best of it is the bank she was with (she was a student so doesn't take to much working out which bank!) said that because it was a cloned card, there was no proof it was fraud! I'm just glad she's now safe with me in an area this sort of thing which can make you afraid to use your card doesn't happen that often!