New identity fraud figures published today [1] show that one quarter of the headline £1.2 billion ‘cost’ of ID fraud is actually the direct cost of the Identity & Passport Service, because Home Office figures include anything they deem to be “prevention” as part of the cost of fraud.

The new – but as yet unexplained – methodology actually eliminates over half a billion pounds of activity that the government previously claimed as ‘identity fraud’. Previous inflated estimates [2] had been used as a justification for the National Identity Scheme (‘ID cards’).

Analysis of the current estimates reveals that a large part of the stated ‘cost’ of fraud is, in fact, the cost of bureaucracy. The activities of the Identity and Passport Service make it the second largest item in the list.

Phil Booth, NO2ID National Coordinator said:

"NO2ID has called the ID scheme a fraud many times but, by counting the cost of its own activities to boost fraud figures, the Identity and Passport Service has confirmed it.

“On this logic, the more the Home Office spends on identity control, the more “fraud” there is. It is more than just circular logic. The Home Office is now, by its own estimate, the country’s single biggest fraudster – taking the public for nearly £300 million a year and rising."

-ENDS-

Notes for editors:

1)  http://www.identitytheft.org.uk/cms/assets/Cost_of_Identity_Fraud_to_the_UK_Economy_2006-07.pdf

2)  The previous figures were easily demolished. See Silicon.com, 2 Feb 06 http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39156140,00.htm
and Andrew Gilligan writing in the Evening Standard:  http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/2005/06/evening-standard-andrew-gillig.html

3) NO2ID is the UK-wide non-partisan campaign against ID cards and the database state. See http://www.no2id.net/dbstate.php for a list of ‘database state’ initiatives that NO2ID is actively opposing.

For further information, or for immediate or future interview, please contact:
Phil Booth (National Co-ordinator, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.) on 07974 230 839
Guy Herbert (General Secretary, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.) on 07956 544 308
Michael Parker (Press Officer, Dit e-mailadres wordt beveiligd tegen spambots. JavaScript dient ingeschakeld te zijn om het te bekijken.) on 07773 376 166