John Penrose

Conservative Party | Weston-super-Mare

ID Fraud: Government Must Do More

Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose has backed a Parliamentary report published on Friday (10th Aug 2007) which calls on the Government to protect internet users from ID fraud.  Mr Penrose was recently a victim of ID fraud himself, firstly when someone tried to impersonate him on Facebook and secondly when his Wikipaedia entry was sabotaged.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee's report says the internet is now 'the playground of criminals'. It calls for a central system for reporting e-crime, for the Government to kick-start the establishment of a Police Central ecrime Unit, and says the Government must drop their current 'Wild West' approach of leaving internet security up to the individual.

Mr Penrose said:

“ID fraud can cause tremendous damage. I was lucky because it didn't cost me anything, but other people have had a much tougher time. If ID fraudsters get access to your bank account they can run up massive debts illegally in your name.

“It's expanding so rapidly, because fraudsters can get hold of personal information, for example mothers' maiden names or your favourite book or film. Often they can find the information they need simply by looking people up on 'social networking sites' like Facebook or Myspace and then using the details to access existing bank accounts, or to create false bank and credit card accounts in a victim's name.”

Earlier this year, somone attempted to set up a sham Facebook page in Mr Penrose's name.  Facebook administrators took private action against the culprit and the page was rapidly removed. Several other politicians have had similar problems, including Boris Johnson.

Last year, a number of alterations were attempted on Mr Penrose's wikipedia page, including the addition of a number of references to a political opponent and a link to that opponent’s website. These changes, were removed by the wikipedia administration and a warning issued to the user, identified as mikerb.*

Mr Penrose continued

“New problems are emerging all the time. For example, if you're looking for a job, lots of employers will search sites like myspace or facebook, or a search engine like google, to check on candidates.  And they'll read your blog if you've got one too. 

“That's fine if your information is accurate. But what happens if someone is impersonating you, or has hacked into your details and altered them maliciously? As an MP, sadly you’ve got to be prepared for people to try a few dirty tricks on you. It’s sneaky and underhand, but people aren't impressed by playground politics so I think it backfires on anyone who tries it.

"But I worry about what happens when this sort of malevolence is directed against private individuals. It could stop you from getting a job, damaging your career prospects, mortgage applications or credit ratings. It could undermine families wanting to foster or adopt, or people looking for work in care homes or as volunteers in organisations like the Scouts or Guides. Even worse, if they linked people to serious crimes like paedophilia it could destroy lives and families.

“The Science and Technology Committee are absolutely right. The Government has to take this more seriously.”