Mobile phone theft, plastic card and identity fraud
Findings from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey
This bulletin is the second in a series of supplementary volumes that accompany the main annual crime volume, Crime in England and Wales 2005/06. The focus of this bulletin is analysis of data from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey (BCS) on relatively new crimes that have emerged with the growth of new technology, i.e. theft of mobile phones, plastic card fraud and, more broadly, identity fraud. There are inherent difficulties with obtaining good measures of crimes involving deception, but the BCS can provide useful evidence on the experience of such crimes amongst the general population.
Title: Mobile phone theft, plastic card and identity fraud: Findings from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey
Editor: John Flatley
Series: Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/07
Number of pages: 78
Date published: May 2007
Availability: Download full report 
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Mobile phones: ownership and theft
- According to the 2005/06 BCS , around three in four people of all ages resident in private households owned a mobile phone with similar levels of ownership amongst males and females (74% and 73% respectively).
- Levels of ownership reached a peak of around 95% for people in the 16 to 24 and 25 to 34 age groups (96% and 95% respectively). Rates of ownership remained high at over 90% between ages 35 to 54, but were lower in older age groups. More than eight in ten of those aged 12 to 15 (84%) owned a mobile phone.
- Ownership levels were higher amongst people living in households with higher levels of income (e.g. 81% of those living in households with an annual income of £30,000 or more) and where the household reference person was in employment (80%).
- There was little variation in levels of mobile phone ownership by region.
- 4% of households who owned a mobile phone had experienced a theft in the last year, down from 5% of households according to the 2004/05 BCS .
- 2% of individual mobile phone owners had experienced theft in the last 12 months which equates to an estimated 800,000 mobile phone owners in England and Wales.
- There was no significant difference in mobile phone theft rates between males and females. However, individuals aged 12 to 24 were more likely than any other age group to have had their phone stolen in the last 12 months (12-15 year olds, 5%; 16-24 year olds, 4%). Rates of theft declined with age in subsequent age groups with the lowest proportion among those owners aged 75 and over (less than 0.5%).
- Theft rates were higher among owners with the lowest levels of annual household income (3% of those with an income of less than £5,000).
- The proportion of mobile phone owners who had been a victim of theft in the last 12 months in London (3%) was higher than in all other regions.
- Around half of households (49%) who experienced theft of a mobile phone in the last year had reported it to the police; a rate that has remained stable since 2001/02. A greater proportion of victims had reported a theft to their network service provider (73%), and this rate has remained stable since 2003/04 (when the question was first asked).
- In over two-thirds of thefts experienced by respondents (69%), the mobile phone was stolen when left unattended. The most common circumstance of respondents who had experienced a mobile phone theft was that the phone was left unattended and visible (44%).
Respondents who experienced mobile phone theft: Where the phone was stolen from
Plastic card and identity fraud
- Overall 83% of adults had used a plastic card in the last 12 months, according to the 2005/06 BCS . Levels of usage were lowest amongst the youngest (16 to 24) and oldest age groups (75 and over) and highest amongst those aged 35 to 64. Adults living in households in the higher income groups had the highest levels of usage and other variables associated with higher income status reflected this pattern.
- Overall 4% of card users had been a victim of card fraud in the last 12 months. 57% of card users said they were fairly or very worried about being a victim of card fraud, a level that is higher than other crime types asked about in the BCS.
- Men aged 35 to 44 who were plastic card users (6%) were more likely than those aged 16 to 24 (2%) to have been a victim of card fraud. Men aged 35 to 44 were more likely (65%) to be worried about card fraud than those aged 16 to 24 (45%) and those aged over 55 (for example, 52% of men aged 65 to 74).
- Women aged 16 to 24 were more likely than men of the same age to have been a victim of card fraud (6%) and more likely than women in all age groups over 55 (2%) to have been victimised. However, women aged 25 to 34 were more likely (65%) to be worried about card fraud than those aged 16 to 24 (48%) and over 55.
- Victims of plastic card fraud in the last 12 months were more likely to be worried about card fraud than non-victims; 85% of male and 76% of female victims were worried about card fraud compared with 56% of non victims of both sexes.
- 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 (7% and 5% respectively). However, those in the higher income groups tended to have relatively higher levels of worry about card fraud.
- Considering other types of identity fraud, the proportion of adults who had their personal details used without their permission in the last 12 months was 2%. Just 1% of adults reported that they had a plastic card used without their permission to make a purchase in the last year. Less than 0.5% said that their identity was used without permission in other ways, for example, to apply for a credit card, mobile phone contract, state benefits, or to open a bank or building society account.
- Of those adults who held a UK passport, 1% reported that their passport had been lost or stolen in the previous year. For UK driving licence holders, 2% said that their licence had been lost or stolen during the last 12 months.
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Last update: Thursday, July 19, 2007