London Gets Gold for ID Fraud - Yahoo Finance
NOTTINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire -05/23/12)- London could be set for a rise in identity fraud this summer as new figures from Experian CreditExpert reveal that 7.7 million Britons from outside the capital are set to descend on some of the UK's worst areas for ID theft - while 1.9 million Londoners plan to escape.(1)
London, the boroughs around many of the Games venues in particular, is already home to the UK's worst ID fraud hotspots, with rates of attempted fraud up to 11 times higher than the national average. These include East Ham (11 times higher), Woolwich (6.5 times higher) and Stratford itself (six times higher).(2)
There will be a mass influx of people into these areas, carrying personal information in the forms of UK bank account details, and credit card details. This leaves individuals at a high risk of Identity Fraud with individuals, in unfamiliar surroundings, exercising less caution than they would normally adhere to in their normal surroundings. This presents a massive opportunity to fraudsters, with visitors likely to have passports and other pieces of personal identification about their person, be freely using smart phones and unsecured WiFi hotspots, and also potentially sharing hostels or rented accommodation with strangers all of which increase the risk of identity theft.
Visitors are therefore advised to keep a close eye on their personal information, and on their credit report following their visit for any signs of unusual activity. CreditExpert also provides alerts if your personal details appear anywhere unexpectedly online so it is easy to protect yourself pro-actively.
TOP FIVE RISKS TOP FIVE TIPS TO STAY SAFE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Passports Think about how much sensitive information you really need to have about your person - if your hotel booking has your card number and address, do you need to carry it around with you, for instance? Likewise, don't take your passport out with you unless you absolutely have to. If you are staying in a hotel for the Games, ask for sensitive documents to be securely stored in the hotel safe when you are not using them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PIN codes Make sure that no-one else can see you enter your PIN code at ATMs and chip and pin machines, particularly in large crowds. Do not write down or carry your PIN code with you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Smartphones If you have a smartphone, you'll certainly want to photograph and tweet your time at the Olympics, but be particularly careful what you share when connected to an unsecured wireless network. Also ensure you switch off Bluetooth and roaming settings when not required and ensure you use a password. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post If you're going to be one of the lucky ones visiting London for a few weeks to enjoy the Games, think about what you'll do with your post. Intercepted post is one of the key ways in which fraudsters can take people's detail, so it could be worth setting up a redirect for the duration of the Games. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Face-to-face Check the credentials of anyone asking for your personal information, whether by phone, face-to-face or over the internet. If in doubt, don't do it!
The Experian CreditExpert research reveals that no fewer than one in six Britons (16 per cent) is planning on visiting London during the Olympics, half as tourists and half to attend the Games themselves. Seventeen per cent of people coming to the capital have not been for more than a decade, with a further three per cent making their first ever trip to the city.
Nearly six out of 10 (59 per cent) will be staying for several days. Although one in four (25 per cent) will be staying in hotels and one in five (21 per cent) with friends, a significant minority (four per cent) will risk staying in a hostel and two per cent will be renting a property or someone's spare room - some 154,000 people.(3)
And although they are concerned about large crowds (23 per cent) and the expense of London (20 per cent), just three per cent are worried about identity fraud.
The risk of ID fraud among visitors is arguably heightened by the decision of many Londoners to quit the capital during the course of the Games. One in 14 (seven per cent) are looking to leave London for the duration of the Olympics, with a further one in six (17 per cent per cent) planning to get out of the city for at least some of the period.
But it's not just newcomers who need to be careful. The one in 20 Londoners taking on a lodger or renting out a room or their whole property need to be aware they are putting themselves at risk of ID fraud by inviting a stranger into their home and are advised to ensure personal details are locked away and post collected promptly.
Peter Turner, Managing Director at Experian Interactive, commented: "This is set to be a once in a lifetime summer. But that doesn't mean people should let their guard down - just because you are holidaying in the UK, you should still take the same precautions you would if you were on a city break to Europe.
"Identity fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes of the 21st century, and anyone could be at risk from fraudsters getting hold of their personal information, particularly if they are in an unfamiliar area, renting a flat short-term or a room in a B&B. Likewise if you are a homeowner letting a spare room just for the Olympics, do ensure all your personal details are kept safe from visitors."
"This is why it is so important to have proper safeguards in place to protect your identity. With Experian CreditExpert if the worst should happen you will be alerted to any significant changes to your credit report so that you can react quickly and keep the risks to a minimum."
Identity fraud hotspots
Top 10 10k households Top 10 in 10k households nationwide Cases London Cases ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slough 25 East Ham 78 London (all) 22 Woolwich 46 Gravesend 20 Stratford 43 Birmingham 17 Ilford 33 Luton 16 Walthamstow 27 Manchester 15 Harrow 27 Leicester 14 Cheapside 26 High Wycombe 13 Lewisham 26 Peterborough 13 Hatfield 26 Windsor 12 Enfield 26
To avoid becoming a victim of identity fraud this summer, Experian CreditExpert suggests some further tips:
1. Keep an eye on your credit report It's a history of all your credit accounts and will highlight any irregularities such as suspect applications for credit and rises in card balances. You can view your credit report free with a 30 day trial with Experian CreditExpert.(ii)((i)New customers only. Monthly fee after trial ends) 2. If in doubt, don't click If an email purporting to be from a hotel or linked to the Games seems suspicious, contact the relevant organisation and don't give out personal details. Your bank, credit card provider and any reputable business will never ask for confirmation of details by email. 3. If you do become a victim of fraud Don't forget you can sign up to Experian's CreditExpert whose dedicated victims of fraud team will work on your behalf to resolve the issue.
Notes to editors:
1. The UK adult population is 48,091,600 (ONS). Sixteen per cent of adults are set to come to London during the Olympics. Therefore: 0.16 x 48,091,600 = 7,694,656 or 7.7 million.
The population of Greater London is 7,753,000 (ONS) 24 per cent of Londoners are looking to leave the capital during some or all of the Games. Therefore: 0.24 x 7,753,000 = 1,860,720 or 1.9 million
2. Based on analysis of information from the National Hunter anti-fraud data sharing system and the Insurance Hunter database.
3. 0.02 x 7694656 = 153,893 or 154,000
Key benefits of Experian CreditExpert membership:
- Experian is the UK's most trusted credit reference agency
- Experian is the credit expert with more than 30 years of experience
- Free 30-day trial of CreditExpert(i)((i)New customers only. Monthly fee after trial ends)
- Unlimited access to your Experian Credit Score
- Weekly alerts of changes to your credit report
- Access to an award-winning, UK-based customer services team
- Identity Protection Insurance of up to GBP 75,000(ii) ((ii)terms and conditions apply)
- Expert advice and tools to help improve your credit rating
- Intelligent price matching to credit products suited to your credit history
- Consumers can apply directly from the website: www.creditexpert.co.uk
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2012 was US$4.5 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 44 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Rich Greeks rush to London - DAWN Group
AS the eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis and Greece teeters on the brink of default and exit from the euro, the number of wealthy European property buyers in London has surged. Greeks, Italians, Spaniards and even the French are desperate to convert their euros into bricks and mortar in the British capital.
There are three main safe havens now, said David Adams, managing director of Mayfair estate agents John Taylor — gold, the Swiss franc and London property.
Upmarket estate agency Savills has seen web searches from Greece jump by 50 per cent compared with six months ago.
Searches from France are up 16 per cent, from Spain 10 per cent and from Italy nine per cent.
Lucian Cook, director of residential research at Savills, said: “A lot of the early recovery in the housing market [since the first wave of the credit crisis] was triggered by foreign exchange plays, but in recent times this has been replaced by a safe haven effect.”
Prices for prime central London properties have risen nearly 50 per cent since a post-credit crunch low in March 2009 and have just hit a record high — more than 12 per cent above their previous peak in March 2008 — according to estate agency Knight Frank.
Even the falling value of the euro in recent weeks, hitting four-year lows against the pound and so making property purchases more expensive, has failed to put off wealthy Greeks and other euro buyers desperate to park their money somewhere safe.
London has always been popular for its liberal legal and tax regimes. Continued interest from Middle Eastern and Asian, in particular Chinese, investors in central London is also pushing prices higher. Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, a specialist in luxury property, has had several inquiries from Greek buyers over the last six months. He expects a significant jump after the forthcoming Greek election. “You need to phone me back after the elections on 17 June, then we’ll see what happens — we’ll see a hell of a lot of people [moving from Greece to London].”
Hersham said Greeks have been long attracted to historic London properties in Mayfair, Knightsbridge and South Kensington, but interest has grown from other countries. “I’ve also seen a lot of Italians and quite a few Spaniards,” he said. “Italians have lost faith in how Italy is governed and are escaping the country. Lots of French people are also escaping [Francois] Hollande.
Our French office has taken lots of instructions since the election.” France’s new president has said he intends to raise taxes on the wealthy.
Richard Davies, the head of residential property at upmarket estate agents Chesterton Humberts, said: “Italian and Spanish buyers have been noticeably active in the London property market since the first cracks in the eurozone started to show back in 2009. In 2010, Berlusconi introduced a tax incentive that encouraged a lot of Italian buyers into London.
In some offices, one in four sales was made to Italians. Since then, there has been a steady stream of eurozone buyers, many of whom work as professionals in the City. Before the budget, there were some noticeable purchases of blocks of flats in Kensington by Italian buyers.”
Theodore Angelopoulos, a Greek shipping magnate, bought the Old Rectory in Chelsea in 1990, which until recently was London’s largest and most valuable residential property. It is thought to have been the first property in London to go for more than GBP10m.
Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com, where traffic from Greece has surged by 40 per cent in a month, said: “Greeks are in the top five euro nations [buying in London].”
— The Guardian, London
London 2012: Rebecca Adlington receives abusive message on Twitter - The Guardian
Rebecca Adlington has been receiving abusive messages on Twitter after revealing "nasty comments" meant the double Olympic champion would be using it sparingly during London 2012.
The 23-year-old was catapulted into the public eye after her triumphs in the 400 metres and 800m freestyle in Beijing, with the Mansfield-born swimmer feted on her return to Great Britain.
However, not everybody was so pleased – something she discovered the painful way. Now she does not read on-line interviews she has given and neither will she be using Twitter as much during the London Olympic Games.
On Sunday Adlington pasted a message that has been sent to her on Twitter, prefacing it with: "I had a perfect example of what has been said in the papers this week tweeted to me this morning. I apologise for the swearing when I RT it!"
She then posted: "How lovely is this person…" before retweeting a message to her which read: "@BeckAdlington you shark fin nosed d*******, you belong in that pool you f****** whale."
Adlington quickly received support from many of her Great Britain team‑mates. The former world 100m freestyle silver medallist Fran Halsall tweeted: "what a small insignificant life that person must lead", echoed by the former double Commonwealth champion Caitlin McClatchey, who wrote: "his parents must be so proud to have raised such a pathetic idiot! Well done for ur amazing 800 hun BOOM! Good luck today xx"
The Olympic open water bronze medallist Cassie Patten addressed the perpetrator directly, saying: "It must be hard for you, you obviously have achieved nothing in your life, as you feel the need to Insult @BeckAdlington."
It all follows the revelation by Adlington to a number of reporters that she has been subject to abuse on Twitter as well as negative comments online. She had said: "I love the block button on Twitter. I don't know how people expect to send a nasty comment and not get blocked.
"With Twitter I think it's one of those things if you like it like Liam [Tancock] who is on it every two minutes – 'just having my lunch, just doing this' – he loves it, he is like that in real life. Whereas I am on Twitter every now and again, I tweet here and there but not every day all the time.
"I think I will be going on every now and again but I won't be checking it.
"I want to stay focused – obviously the messages of support are absolutely amazing and I love reading all of those but you have got the chance of somebody saying something just to annoy you and you don't want that added stress. For myself, I think I'll tweet once it's over."
She added: "I used to [read articles] when it first happened but I am one of those people who then scroll down to the bottom and read the comments and I learned very quickly not to do that. Because it is awful and I get angry: even if there are 10 nice comments you always get one idiot.
"It makes you angry and frustrated. I've now given up because it upsets me or makes me angry."
Live from the Jubilee River Thing - Daily Telegraph Blogs
A special day, but a familiar atmosphere
Standing in the rain at Vauxhall, wearing the traditional British summer gear of waterproof trousers and a cagoule. Thousands of Queen masks in evidence. When Her Majesty comes past that will presumably feel very strange, as though she's in her own version of Being John Malkovich.
Also: will she have to wear a waterproof poncho? Or a life jacket? Or are members of the Royal family exempt from health and safety legislation?
Atmosphere is the familiar one of grim English determination to have a good time in spite of all obstacles. Cold, rain, and an impenetrable wall of umbrellas between oneself and the thing one is trying to see will not get in the way.
Shall stop now before my iPhone shorts out in the damp. More updates when Her Damp Britannic Majesty approaches.
…
Rumours of boats sighted at Vauxhall turned out to be a police dinghy. Crowd's halfhearted effort to go wild is stillborn. Slightly more enthusiastic response for an RNLI lifeboat.
People down here on the ground getting resentful of the people in the tower blocks, who presumably have not been standing for five hours and can occasionally go and get a cup of tea.
The woman swigging amaretto has drained her bottle. Whether she can keep it down remains to be seen…
Oh here they are. A somewhat ugly tug is pushing a barge full of bellringers, then the rest turn up in earnest. Woo hoo etc. Lots and lots of rowing boats in the colours of the commonwealth countries. Rather lovely really.
London 2012 round-up: Beth Tweddle bounces back on bars - Daily Mirror
Beth Tweddle took another step towards London 2012 with gold on the uneven bars in the second Olympic trial event at Pipers Vale, Ipswich.
It caps a successful return for the three-time world champion after missing the European Championships last month following knee surgery.
Briton Jenni Pinches won the vault final ahead of Finland’s Annika Uvikko and team-mate Niamh Rippin, while Jocelyn Hunt led the way in the floor final and also came second on the beam behind Spain’s Ana Maria Izurieta.
In trampolining, Kat Driscoll won the North West Gala in Liverpool, which also acted as an Olympic trial.
***
Great Britain missed out on a hockey medal at the Sultan Azlan Shan Cup yesterday as they lost 3-1 against India in the bronze-medal match in Malaysia.
Ashley Jackson opened the scoring as GB led at the interval but India hit back after the break with goals from Shivandra Singh, Sandeep Singh and Tushar Khandker.
Jackson was also on target on Saturday as GB beat Pakistan 2-1 in their final group game.
Head coach Jason Lee said: “There are plenty of positives to take out of this week.”
Manager Andy Halliday added: “It’s disappointing to finish just outside the medal places. We now need to work hard ahead of the Olympics.’’
London Olympics: James Bond star Daniel Craig to abseil into stadium as part of opening ceremony - Daily Record
Thug Gurmukh Goraya facing jail for biting off friend's ear - Kent Online
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by Keith
Hunt
A thug is facing jail for biting off a friend’s ear after they fell out one evening.
Gurmukh Goraya, of Vauxhall Crescent, Northfleet, was convicted of unlawful wounding and cleared of wounding with intent.
Balraj Sohal, of Coutts Avenue, Shorne, was cleared of both charges.
They both denied the charges.
Maidstone Crown Court heard how Goraya, 32, twice sank his teeth into Satish Kumar’s right ear.
It happened while Mr Kumar was house-sitting at his brother Onkar’s home in Maritime Gate, Gravesend, on February 19 last year.
He and Goraya, known as Gus, decided to watch football on television together and have a few drinks. They were later joined by Goraya’s friend Sohal.
Mr Kumar said Goraya and Sohal, 19, became “boisterous” when after midnight he told them it was time for them to leave.
Sohal, he claimed, struck him over the head with a whisky bottle and after he was bundled to the floor Goraya bit into his ear.
“I just couldn’t believe what was happening,” he said. “Everything was just squirting out of me.
"He finally got what he wanted – he took a piece of my ear off…” – victim Satish Kumar
“Because my elbows were in the way, he couldn’t get a good grip on my ear with his teeth. He finally got what he wanted – he took a piece of my ear off.”
Asked by Danny Robinson, prosecuting, how painful it was, he replied: “Very. I was in a state of shock.
“I could feel some sharpness around the ear area. I was struggling. I lost a piece of my ear. I don’t know where it went. I am not aware of anybody finding it on the floor.
“I just blanked out and came round at about 6am or 7am. It was just a blur. I needed to get some attention. There was blood on the wall.”
He went to Darent Valley Hospital and was referred to a plastic surgeon at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead.
“They helped to reconstruct my ear,” he added.
Goraya admitted biting Mr Kumar’s ear but claimed it was in self-defence.
Judge Martin Joy released Goraya on bail until sentence on June 29, but warned: “I want to make it clear to you, the reality is this is a serious offence and the injury is serious. On any view, it was a very nasty injury.”
Saturday, June 02 2012
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London 2012 Olympics: Mo Farah sends out warning to his rivals with world's leading 5,000m time in Diamond League - Daily Telegraph
Long jumper Shara Proctor was also victorious in Eugene with a winning leap of 6.84 metres that claimed the scalp of American world champion Brittney Reese and put her third on the all-time UK list, while Barbara Parker sliced nearly five seconds off Helen Clitheroe’s UK record in finishing fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase in 9min 24.24sec.
But the star of the meeting was China’s former Olympic champion Liu Xiang, who blazed to victory in the 110m hurdles in 12.87sec, which would have equalled the world record had it not been for the illegal 2.4m/s tailwind.
Jo Pavey, who missed out on selection for the Olympic marathon, became only the second British woman after Paula Radcliffe to win a medal in the European Cup 10,000m when she finished runner-up in Bilbao in 31min 32.22sec yesterday.
The Devon athlete had an extra reason to celebrate as her time was almost 13 seconds inside the Olympic ‘A’ qualifying standard. She has already achieved the ‘A’ standard in the 5,000m.
Several British athletes produced lifetime bests in Geneva on Saturday, with Lawrence Clarke going top of the UK 110m hurdles rankings with a time of 13.33sec and Eilidh Child setting a Scottish record of 54.96sec in the women’s 400m hurdles.
Conrad Williams and Luke Lennon Fold, both of whom are coached by Linford Christie, also smashed their 400m personal bests with times of 45.08 and 45.23 respectively.
In Regensburg, Anyika Onoura equalled her personal best with a 200m victory in 22.93 – well inside the Olympic ‘A’ standard.
However, there was bad news for Welsh 800m runner Joe Thomas, one of the stars of the indoor season, who announced yesterday that he was out of the Olympics after suffering a stress fracture in his shin.
