Presentation by Rachel Knight of Experian at the 2011 e-Crime Wales Summit.

Identity fraud is not going away, and is an ever-mutating beast. New technology can prevent certain types of fraud, but it can also provide fraudsters with new avenues to gain access to your personal data. Experian deal with and resolve more consumer identity fraud than any other UK organisation, and as such we have unique insight into the frequency, and the types of fraud perpetrated against UK consumers.

The services we use, and the way we go about our daily lives can expose people to an increasing risk of fraud. Experian also has a real understanding, on a personal level, of how damaging, frustrating and time-consuming it can be to resolve a complex case of personal fraud.

As professionals in the fight against fraud, we are often focused on what systems and procedures we have in place to fight it from a corporate viewpoint. However, we must also accept that all organisations employ individuals, and therefore have an inherent risk of data breach. The ICO was made aware of an alarming number of UK data breaches in 2010, and it is worth us taking the time to understand the potential impact these breaches can have on customers.

We need to understand the risks and plan to support our customers should the worst happen both to protect the customer and protect our organisations against reputational and financial risk.