PRESS ASSOCIATION -- Current accounts have become the financial product most targeted by fraudsters after a surge in bogus applications this year, according to new research.
Credit check company Experian said frauds accounted for 35 out of every 10,000 current account applications in the first quarter of 2011, outstripping both mortgage fraud and car finance fraud for the first time.
The figures marked a 58% increase on the previous three months and reflected a perception that current accounts were a soft target and a way in to launch attacks on more lucrative credit card and mortgage products, Experian added.
Financial application fraud generally rose over the quarter, it added, with 20 out of every 10,000 financial product applications found to be fraudulent.
That was up 24% over the previous three months, though the figure was below the comparative quarter in 2010.
Experian said more than half of fraud is now down to 'first parties' where an individual misrepresents their personal circumstances to secure credit or other financial services, while over 90% of first-party fraud cases involve some form of data massage.
Most activity is in the lowest income groups, but young, professional, university educated people also score above average, with pay freezes, job cuts and business closures all reasons behind the increase.
As well as current accounts, there was a big increase in attempted mortgage fraud, with only the second quarter of 2010 posting a higher total.
Insurance fraud saw one of the biggest increases over the past year, with a 4% increase over the last quarter of 2010 and a 43% increase over the first three months of 2010.
Car finance fraud fell, but still remains one of the areas most favoured by criminals, but fraudulent credit card applications are down by more than two-thirds since the first quarter of 2010.