Worried about identity theft?

January 25, 2007

If you are worried about identity theft, you will be pleased to know that the government is cracking down on it. Credit card theft is still really common and the government recognises this and therefore it has strengthened its laws against it.

The new law came into affect in the third week of January 2007 and it has now stated that anybody who participates in ID fraud will now be treated as if it is a criminal offence. Whilst that may seem obvious to many people, the laws previously did not take ID theft as seriously as it does now. Even if the victim of the fraud does not report the theft, it will still be seen as a criminal offence and that will mean that the person involved will be charged. This is great news as many people who are victims of ID theft do not even realise that they are victims and therefore they could not report it. This previously meant that the Police couldn’t do anything as it was not reported. So, this new law is bound to have a positive effect on the UK as a whole.

The problem with credit card fraud is that although the debt which you may get into because of the ID thief is written off, it still affects your credit rating. This can obviously cause various problems and it can be frustrating to say the least! So, identity fraud is certainly a big issue and it can affect a person’s life for a long time. The government have also seen that online theft is also a big business and that too is included within the new law.

Overall, although this new law is going to help victims of fraudsters, if you are a victim it will still affect your life ad your credit rating.