Victims of identity theft fraud report

London remains the UK’s overall fraud hotspot – residents have an average risk score of 260. Well-off districts such as Kensington and Chelsea dominate the capital’s top ten, with index scores of 370 and 366 respectively – and almost four times the risk of the average address.

 

Figure 6: Top ten most-at-risk territories within London

Index shows level of risk, where 100 = UK average

 

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

 

Outside London, commuter belts and affluent areas with a high proportion of rental properties are especially vulnerable. They include St Albans (211), Guildford (201) and Epsom (198).

 

Scotland is less risky, with Edinburgh’s Princes Street scoring 117 and its Gyle area 116, while Glasgow Central is just above average at 106.

 

Figure 7: Top ten most-at-risk territories excluding London

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

Figure 8: UK high-risk fraud areas

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

At a postal sector level – which brings the analysis down to individual neighbourhoods – the ten most at risk postcodes are all in affluent parts of London, including parts of Chelsea and Knightsbridge, as well as up-and-coming areas within Canary Wharf and Blackwall.

The country’s most vulnerable location is SW1X 8, centred on Kinnerton Street near Knightsbridge in London, with a score of 408. This is closely followed by W1K 7, centred on Park Street, near London’s Park Lane, with a score of 407. Knightsbridge itself, postal code SW1X 7 weighed in at 401. Residents of all three postal sectors are some four times more likely to have their identity cloned than the average person.

 

Figure 9: Top ten most-at-risk postal sectors within London

index shows level of risk, where 100 = UK average

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

 

Figure 10: London high-risk fraud areas

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

 

Outside London, new-build locations with a large rental sector and flats with shared letterboxes or hallways dominate the at-risk top ten. It is interesting to note, however, that nowhere outside London presents as high a risk of identity fraud as the top ten within the capital.

Top, excluding London, with a risk score of 390, is the Quays development in Salford M50 3, which comprises blocks of new property, creating a classic rental zone occupied by relatively well-off younger people.

The next riskiest place is Liverpool Road in Manchester M3 4 – another location with a high proportion of new-build houses and flats. Many are rented and the area scores 352, making its residents three-and-a-half times more likely to be a victim of identity fraud than the national average.

Further new-build locations follow. Fell Road in Westbury, Wiltshire, BA13 2, scores 350, closely followed by Morrison Street in Glasgow G5 8 at 348. Liverpool’s L3 4 regeneration sector and new business park by the Mersey has a risk score of 343, and Cardiff’s regeneration area around the docks at CF10 4 comes in at 334. Leafy Maple Road in Surbiton KT6 4, meanwhile, offers residents more than three times the average chance of having their identity stolen, with a risk score of 333.

Living in a relatively new property need not be an indicator of high risk. The safest postal sectors in the country are recent estates in Gateshead at NE10 8 and East Denton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE5 2, both with a risk score of 18, less than a fifth of the national average. Joining them on 18 is the Cathays area of Cardiff CF24 4, a well-preserved Victorian area just three miles from the high-ranking docks with almost 19 times less risk of identity fraud.

Figure 11: Top ten most-at-risk postal sectors excluding London

Index shows level of risk, where 100 = UK average

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)

Figure 12: Identity fraud risk across the UK

 

Source: Experian Victims of Fraud Survey (March 2010)