Scam warning issued as fraudsters steal your identity to carry out this crime | Personal Finance | Finance [Video]

Insurance fraud linked to ID theft has almost doubled in a year causing misery for victims and pushing up premiums for millions, it has been revealed.

The Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) has identified a 97 percent rise in organised insurance fraud involving stolen identities in the past year.

Fraudsters can attempt to impersonate someone with just a few stolen details such as a name, date of birth or home address.

These can be used for most types of financial crime including insurance, banking and credit.

The victims find they are pursued by third parties looking to recover costs of financial arrangements made in their name, which can impact their credit score making it difficult to get loans, credit cards or even mortgages for years to come.

The IFB said there is rising evidence that Ghost brokers are stealing the IDs of drivers who are cheaper to insure to set up policies. These …