Fake credit applications grow

By Brian Fallow

WELLINGTON - Identity fraud, where people lie about who they are when applying for credit, is becoming more widespread, says credit bureau Baycorp.

"We are probably investigating about 100 or so instances a month, and it's growing," said general manager Paul Stewart.

Industries such as telecommunications, where firms often signed on new subscribers without seeing any identification, were more at risk than, say, banks.

The risk would grow with the spread of e-commerce, he said.

Baycorp had about 80,000 aliases on its database, accumulated over five years.

But there were signs that credit providers were fighting back, said Mr Stewart.

"Match rates" - positive matches between a borrower's details and existing credit bureau files - had been rising steadily, from about 86 per cent in March 1998 to 91 per cent now.