Cifas Annual Report 
With identity theft continuing to rise, demand for our Protective Registration Service grew significantly in 2015. The service works by registering a protective marker against the identity details of individuals who are at particular risk of identity fraud – usually because their details have been stolen, lost or hacked. 21,644 records were loaded throughout the year. This compares to 16,945 in 2014 – a 28% rise. 2015 saw a number of high profile data breaches in the UK and there is no doubt that this was one of the most significant factors in the rise.
Unprecedented demand during high profile breaches resulted in lower service levels for a short period of time in September 2015. To cope with the extra demand for services we introduced online registration for Protective Registration in 2015 for the first time, which helped to resolve these issues with call waiting time back to normal levels within a fortnight. The introduction of the online system will put us in a much stronger position to cope with future peaks in demand. One of the challenges for us to consider for future years is the scope of this service – in scenarios where millions of records are lost, it is not feasible or advisable for all of these identities to be added to a system such as Protective Registration which is designed for low volume, high risk cases. We will consider the best use of our data and systems in high profile, large data breaches and options for future development throughout 2016.
Following an external review of the current service we also extended the period that the protective marker remains on the system to two years as our analysis suggests that this will offer greater protection for individuals at risk.
In 2015, eight organisations used our Bulk Business Service, resulting in the loading of 3,694 Protective Registrations. This compares to 2014 where six organisations used the service, protecting 5,964 individuals.
Eight organisations used our Bulk Business Service, resulting in 3,694 Protective Registrations recorded
Our Protecting the Vulnerable project also grew in 2015 with the appointment of a full time project manager. Protecting the Vulnerable is a ground-breaking free service for local authorities that protects individuals who are subject to a court order of protection under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, meaning that they are particularly at risk from the unwanted attention of fraudsters. Now in its second year, the service runs extra checks on any financial applications made in the individual’s name and flags fraudulent activity to the local authority.
Cifas’ Protective Registration for the Vulnerable service has gained a strong reputation among participating councils across the UK for stopping fraudsters in their tracks. Prevented frauds include stopping a bogus social worker’s attempt to get a vulnerable resident to switch from a savings account to an account where they could access their money with a cash card.
Five local authorities and one local health care trust joined the scheme in 2015:
This extended protection to an additional 295 individuals in their care and means that a total of 1,290 individuals are now protected under the scheme, free of charge, with other local authorities taking part including:
"Our duty of care is to those vulnerable members of our community who are prone to exploitation by unscrupulous individuals.
"Protective Registration for the Vulnerable is a simple and cost effective way of ensuring we meet this duty of care and provide protection to those people in Halton Borough who need it most.”
Cllr Marie Wright, Halton Borough Council's Executive Board Member for Heath and Wellbeing
