ID Fraud

[Auldeejit]

What does he mean, "There's no evidence that they've fallen into the wrong hands."?
To me, that tells me that they probably have, but we can't know for certain!
What were they doing on discs anyway? Customs & Revenue could've encripted this
and sent it electronically.
There's too much personal information flying around anyway, due to computerised
systems. I'd rather not use banks, but what's the alternative?
I just don't trust the security of these systems. Too many agencies involved!

[Mori]

Tax credit fraud and mistakes cost £1bn a year

The tax credit system is so complex that fraud and error is running at £1bn a year, while still leaving society's poorest families trapped in poverty, according to a damning new report.

In its scathing assessment, the Public Accounts Committee reveals that the tax credits system suffers from the highest rate of error and fraud of any Westminster department.

Some £6bn was overpaid in the first three years of the flagship scheme, of which just £2bn had been recovered by March last year. Around £700m has been written off and HM Revenue & Customs is unlikely to claw back a further £1.6bn.

In a separate report on the level of child poverty yesterday, the Scottish Affairs Committee blames in large measure the complexity and ineffectiveness of the tax credit system for the failure to improve the plight of society's poorest children.

Last night Chancellor Alistair Darling was under intense pressure to reform the system in light of the committees' findings.

The Public Accounts Committee Chairman, Edward Leigh, said: "The tax credits situation is as serious as ever. HMRC's attempts to bring the system under any measure of control have so far not been crowned with conspicuous success.

"The amount of tax credit being lost to fraud and error is still running at some £1bn each year. The department has accepted our committee's recommendations on the need to set targets to reduce fraud and error. It has still not put any targets in place."

He said another concern was the scale of overpayment to claimants. The tax credits system was designed to incorporate "a degree of overpayment" since the initial awards were provisional.

But Mr Leigh added: "It was not meant to generate overpayments of £6bn in three years. This money is supposed to be recovered from claimants but £2.3bn worth has been written off or is unlikely to be returned.

"About two million families a year have been placed in debt to the government in this way since the scheme was launched."

And, in a comment echoed by the investigation into child poverty in Scotland, Mr Leigh added: "Some regret ever having become involved.

"Certainly, the vulnerable ones face a future of trying to repay the money they owe, with all the hardship that involves."

The Public Accounts Committee's report was its fifth into the current tax credits system and continues to make desperate reading for ministers.

The administrative cost has risen from £406m in 2003-04 to £587m in 2006-07, but there is "little evidence the department has the scheme under control", according to the report.

There is also biting criticism of the contractor EDS and the way their failings have been handled.

A spokesman for HMRC said: "Tax credits provide support to six million families and have been central in lifting 600,000 children out of poverty since 1997.

"This report relies on data captured only up to 2006. As a result of a series of improvements, overpayments have fallen by a fifth and accuracy in processing payments has reached 97%. Our security measures stopped the vast majority of fraudulent claims before any money was paid out."

In a another report yesterday, Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader, said Glasgow was at the "worst end of the scale" of social breakdown affecting modern Britain. In one statistic, Mr Duncan Smith said the city has 170 street gangs, the same as London, despite the fact the UK capital has six times the population.

[Dexter St. Clair]

In a another report yesterday, Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader, said Glasgow was at the "worst end of the scale" of social breakdown affecting modern Britain. In one statistic, Mr Duncan Smith said the city has 170 street gangs, the same as London, despite the fact the UK capital has six times the population.

Have we got that many chip shops they can all hang about outside?

The right-thinking Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) said the city's economic recovery had been hampered by appalling levels of social deprivation.

The CSJ, which was set up by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, pinpointed a severe youth crime problem in the city.

The report is here.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/breakthroughglasgow_05_02_08.pdf
One of you not in education nor in in employment could read it, analyse it and summarise it before I get back.

Sorry for readers in the Scottish nationalist Party that should have read facing multiple Choices many challenges or some similar pish.

[Mori]

Herald

HSBC bank loses disc with details of 370,000 customers

Banking giant HSBC today faced the prospect of an investigation by the City watchdog after admitting it had lost a disc containing details of 370,000 customers.
The disc went missing around four weeks ago after being sent from the group's offices in Southampton to a reinsurer with an external courier.
It contained the names, dates of birth and insurance cover levels of people with life assurance at the bank, generally linked to a mortgage.

[Mori]

Revealed: the streets most at risk from a £170m identity theft crime wave

FRAUD EXPERTS have pinpointed the Scottish streets being targeted by organised crime in a £170million identity theft spree.

Using cutting-edge computer modeling technology, researchers at the credit reference agency Experian have analysed the details of 10,000 identity crimes to identify the 10 areas in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh where residents are most at risk of falling victim to Scotland's fastest-growing crime.

Now the company, which reported a 66% increase in cases last year, is calling upon those in the areas at critical risk to exercise extreme caution when handling their personal information

Residents of the G5 8 postcode sector, which covers approximately 1000 households in Clyde Place, Kingston Street, Riverview Drive, Paisley Road and the surrounding streets on Glasgow's south side, are at greater risk of identity fraud than any other area in Scotland. Experian says the locality is home to so many of the social groups and housing types targeted by fraudsters that residents are four times more likely to become victims than the average Scot.

[Mori]

Glasgow’s fraud spots revealed



GLASGOW'S top credit card fraud hotspots have been revealed by security experts.
And topping the list of shame was G42 Govanhill, followed closely by G41 Pollokshields, G81 Clydebank, G34 Easterhouse and G31 Dennistoun.
The research published today by fraud prevention specialists identified the city as the worst Scottish fraud location Experts The 3rd Man analysed 30million good' and bad' card transactions between January and June this year.
And they found Glasgow had the highest concentration of fraudulent "Card Not Present" transactions in Scotland where fraud is committed using mail order, telephone or the internet.

[onyirtodd]

Can anybody tell if Glasgow is "the worst Scottish fraud location" by sheer volume of fraudulent transactions (which is what you might expect with Glasgow being the biggest city) or by number of fraudulent transactions versus genuine transactions?

[fourbytwo]

Has anyone recently checked the news.....?
Criminals have cloned the massive pin/chip system developed in the Netherlands as 'invincible, and the entire system will now have to be scrapped....
A couple of British companies used this system, and are now liable to see their system collapse, amongst" them is the very large British Rail/Underground network that uses the credit card system for users in London....
So, once again I say.....why spend so much on personal ID to keep this Government happy, when it seems its the criminals, who are the only section in society rubbing their hands in anticipation......

[Mori]

Et

A HI-TECH £1.2billion database will from 2009 track the police records of thousands of people entering or leaving Scotland.
The e-borders' scheme will link airports and every major transport hub with the police national computer and government agencies.
It follows a UK pilot project, run by IBM, which covered 10 international routes, screened 29million passengers and led to 1000 arrests.

The system has the ability to check thousands of details within minutes.
International passengers could be denied permission to enter the UK before they leave foreign soil.
Deputy Chief Constable Bill Skelly, of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said: "Airlines will notify e-borders with the details of passengers.
"That information will go into a central database where it will be checked for those on the police wanted index.
"If someone is wanted for murder or has a European arrest warrant we will be waiting for them."
The scheme, described as an "offshore line of defence", could mean air passengers having to book in earlier for flights.

Publication date 29/12/08

[onyirtodd]

Will this include a Checkpoint Charlie at Carter Bar? That'd scunner the Mosstroopers.

[Mori]

BBC

Ministers reject ID card roll-out



The Scottish Government has told Westminster it remains "completely opposed" to its plans to roll out identity cards across the UK.

In a letter to the Home Office, Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the cards posed an "unacceptable threat" to civil liberties.

He was responding to a consultation on a code of practice relating to the scheme, which is a reserved matter.

The rules must be in place before the first cards are issued to UK citizens.

Mr Ewing told junior Home Office minister Meg Hillier that money allocated to the scheme would be better spent on more "worthy" causes, such as schools and hospitals.

[My Kitten]

Mr Ewing told junior Home Office minister Meg Hillier that money allocated to the scheme would be better spent on more "worthy" causes, such as schools and hospitals.

Like more CCTV cameras that do sod all.

[Mori]

Got this in my box this mornin, sent it right away to the [email protected], lookout and never give anyone any details of your credit/debit card, times are hard enough as it is. efn bsatards i'd like to catch them when they are sending these emails out... right good kick 'n the RS McColls they need the lot o them.

Get futher info here in fraud emails. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/protect-online.htm

From: HM Revenue & Customs [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 12 April 2010 00:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Your Refund Payment details

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 612.25 GBP

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-4 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

In order to complete your Tax Refund; follow the steps below :

1.) Download and Save or Download and view your Tax Refund Form attached with this message.
2.) Complete all required fields.
3.) Click submit, to send your Tax Refund Form back to us via the web.


HM Revenue & Customs

--------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2009, HM Revenue & Customs UK All rights reserved.
TAX REFUND ID: A29R119

[RDR]

Got this in my box this mornin, sent it right away to the [email protected], lookout and never give anyone any details of your credit/debit card, times are hard enough as it is. efn bsatards i'd like to catch them when they are sending these emails out... right good kick 'n the RS McColls they need the lot o them.

Get futher info here in fraud emails. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/security/protect-online.htm

I've had several of them and sent them to phishing address. Never had any feedback about what they do about them though........

From: HM Revenue & Customs [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 12 April 2010 00:56
To: [email protected]
Subject: Your Refund Payment details

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 612.25 GBP

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-4 days in order to process it.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

In order to complete your Tax Refund; follow the steps below :

1.) Download and Save or Download and view your Tax Refund Form attached with this message.
2.) Complete all required fields.
3.) Click submit, to send your Tax Refund Form back to us via the web.


HM Revenue & Customs

--------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2009, HM Revenue & Customs UK All rights reserved.
TAX REFUND ID: A29R119

[Avenger]

I got one of these in work, someone somewhere must be able to get these people and hit them where it hurts - in the pocket, if I give a credit card number and someone takes a payment from that card, the card issuer knows the recipient, I don't believe in this day and age nothing can be done, the reason nothing is being done is that nobody can be bothered.