Identity fraud is one of the fastest growing types of fraud.  In 2006, CIFAS members recorded over 67,000 victims of identify fraud which is an all time high and the last official estimate put the cost of identity theft at £1.7bn according to a Home Office study.

"Bin raiders" are taking advantage of carelessness, lax security and “it won’t happen to me” attitudes. They are finding it easy to obtain information from both companies and individuals by simply searching business and household waste.
It is silent, hidden, difficult to investigate and amazingly simple.
Identity theft refers to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data involving fraud or deception for economic gain. The damage to the victim may, in most cases, be minimal but at the other extreme ”total hijack” occurs where skilled fraudsters comprehensively steal an identity causing a great deal of stress to victims.
Company ID theft occurs when fraudsters “take-over” a company’s identity to obtain goods, services or finance. This can severely affect the brand, credit record and good name of a business and could ultimately lead to bankruptcy. All this caused only through inadequately or inappropriately disposing of non-sensitive or highly confidential material.