Fraud Alert Sparks British Crisis
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday November 22, 2007
ALMOST half of Britain's population is on alert to the threat of identity theft as an embattled Chancellor of the Exchequer fights to keep his job after admitting that the personal records of 25 million people have been lost in the mail.
A Scotland Yard investigation is under way and Alistair Darling yesterday promised a media blitz to apologise "unreservedly" in the face of fierce criticism.On Tuesday Mr Darling told Parliament that two CDs containing the names, addresses, birth dates, national insurance [social security] numbers and bank account details of 25 million people had been placed in the post by a junior official at the revenue and customs department in October. The CDs have not been seen since. MPs gasped as Mr Darling revealed the scale of the "extremely serious failure", which affects 15.5 million children and their parents throughout Britain. On October 18, in breach of security rules, the discs were burnt and sent by the unnamed tax office worker by an unregistered courier to the National Audit Office for statistical sampling. The information was never meant to include addresses, bank information or details of the parents involved. Mr Darling said police had discovered no evidence of fraudulent activity, but said in an interview with GMTV yesterday: "This is a very, very bad situation indeed. I can well understand people's anxiety and anger that this has happened. It should never have happened, and I apologise unreservedly for that." The Conservative opposition seized on the breach to savage Mr Darling, who holds ultimate responsibility for the tax office, and to further undermine the Government's proposed national identity card system. "Is he up to the job? Is this man the right person to be Chancellor of the Exchequer?" asked George Osborne, the shadow chancellor. "The point is that the Government has failed in that first duty it offers to all of us - to protect," he told GMTV. Child protection groups warned that the information would be attractive to pedophiles, while security experts said the information stored on the discs would be enough for fraudsters to steal goods and money worth hundreds of millions of dollars, including taking out fraudulent loans and credit cards. David Hill, a former commander at the National Crime Squad, told The Times: "Having a national insurance number is as good as having a passport." "To simply send this information through the post is grossly incompetent. Imagine if criminals get this information and only take 10 pounds [$25] from each person". The breach heaped pressure on the normally low-profile Mr Darling, who on Monday faced parliamentary questioning over the Government's #25 billion bail-out of the stricken mortgage lender Northern Rock. The chairman of the tax office, Paul Gray, resigned over the issue. The acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, Vincent Cable, said: "Where does the buck stop with this Government?" He suggested that Mr Darling's position may be come "untenable" as the repercussions become clear. Analysts said the timing of the issue could not have been worse for the Government, which has performed badly in recent polls. Its popularity downturn was triggered by a last-minute decision by the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, not to call a snap election this year, and had been exacerbated by questions over the credit crisis and subsequent run on Northern Rock.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald