Northampton South MP Brian Binley has pledged to play a leading role in the fight against identity fraud.

Speaking at a reception hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Identity Fraud, Mr Binley said he wanted to ensure that the people of Northampton were fully aware of the steps they could take to protect themselves, and of what to do if they became a victim of Britain?s fastest growing crime.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Identity Fraud was formed at the end of last year to monitor developments on identity fraud and efforts to curtail such criminal activities, and to raise public and parliamentary awareness of the issue, whilst providing a cross-party voice within parliament.

At the reception, Mr Binley met senior members of the Metropolitan Police fraud team who are fighting to protect consumers from identity thieves.

The Group has launched a website to raise the profile of the issue amongst Parliamentarians, and the public: www.idfraud.org.uk

?It is absolutely vital that the people of Northampton South are made aware of the simple steps they can take to protect themselves from the identity thieves,? said Mr Binley, himself a recent victim of ID fraud.

?Everyone is a potential victim of this growing crime, but a great number of us are failing to take the threat seriously.

?I don?t want to see anyone take risks with their identities. If stolen, it can take months to get it back, and cost you thousands of pounds.

?My message is simple, listen to police advice and don?t make life easy for identity thieves.?

Police advice on the best ways to protect yourself includes:

• Be careful with your personal information. If you receive a telephone call from a credit card company, bank or other retail company asking to confirm certain details about yourself decline them and ask to call them back preferably through a central switchboard.
• When destroying personal correspondence such as bank and credit card statements consider a shredder or even burning them on the garden refuse. If you cannot do either then tear the papers up into very small pieces and place in the refuse bin with other waste products.

• If you move address remember to inform all of the companies that send personal information to you in the post. Always consider re-directing your post with Royal Mail. If you fail to do this people moving in might have free access to your personal details and misappropriate them.

How do you know if are victim to this type of fraud?

• Are you missing your regular monthly statements?
• Have you noticed charges to your accounts that are not yours?
• Remember to check all statements especially bank and credit card.
• Being contacted by a debt collection agency about outstanding payments for items or services that you have not ordered.

Take Action - Act Quickly

• Firstly do not ignore the problem it might not be you that has ordered some goods or opened an account but the debt falls to your name and address.
• Once blacklisted for credit it may take many years to fully recover the problem you might have difficulties in obtaining a mortgage or other bank credit.