NCJ Number
218843
Editor(s)
John Flatley
Date Published
May 2007
Length
78 pages
Annotation
This supplementary report provides an analysis of data from the 2005-2006 British Crime Survey (BCS) on relatively new crimes that have emerged with the growth of new technology, such as theft of mobile phones, plastic card fraud, and identity theft.
Abstract
Highlights of findings in the area of mobile phones include: (1) three in four people of all ages resident in private households owned a mobile phone in 2005-2006; (2) 4 percent of households who owned a mobile phone had experienced a theft in the last year, down from 5 percent in previous year; (3) theft rates were higher among owners with the lowest levels of annual household income; and (4) in over two-thirds of thefts experienced by respondents, the mobile phone was stolen when left unattended. Highlights of findings in the area of plastic card and identity fraud include: (1) overall 83 percent of adults had used a plastic card in the last 12 months; (2) women aged 16 to 24 were more likely than men of the same age to have been victim of card fraud; and (3) adults living in households with the lowest or highest levels of annual household income were the most likely to have been a victim of card fraud. The rapid increase in levels of mobile phone ownership in recent years and their attractiveness to criminals as objects of theft has led to growing interest in this topic. In addition, identify fraud has been of growing concern in recent years. Identity fraud occurs when criminals obtain personal details and use them to open bank accounts and get credit cards and more. This report is the second in a series of supplementary volumes that accompany the main annual crime volume, Crime in England and Wales 2005/06. Tables, figures, and appendixes