To understand the crime of identity theft and to see why it is such a rapidly growing problem you need to go back a few years. At that time here were criminal gangs that needed to launder the proceeds of their crimes. In the seventies and early eighties the banking industry with its centuries old code of secrecy was just what any self-respecting criminal needed. To open a bank account was a simple matter and the banks were keen to gain new customers. The days when it was a privilege to be allowed to have a bank account went out in the early seventies and the banks were fighting each other for business. . . .
To understand the crime of identity theft and to see why it is such a rapidly growing problem you need to go back a few years. At that time here were criminal gangs that needed to launder the proceeds of their crimes. In the seventies and early eighties the banking industry with its centuries old code of secrecy was just what any self-respecting criminal needed. To open a bank account was a simple matter and the banks were keen to gain new customers. The days when it was a privilege to be allowed to have a bank account went out in the early seventies and the banks were fighting each other for business.

At this time the country was seeing a massive growth in the smuggling of illegal drugs. Before the war, the use of cannabis and cocaine was legal but limited to the middle and upper classes. After the war the use of these drugs was banned and for a while the problem seemed to go away. In the sixties, the use of recreational drugs started to become widespread among the youth of the day and the suppliers of these illegal drugs needed to legitimise the proceeds of their trade. They were able to open bogus bank accounts very easily.

For a while there seemed little that the Police could do about this growth industry so the Government of the day introduced legislation to try to combat the massive problem of money laundering. With the growing threat from terrorism, the laws were tightened further to the point where it became extremely hard to create a false identity and open a bank account. It is these restrictions that we all have to accept when we want to use the financial services available. A good example here is when a bank and its staff know us, yet we have to again prove our identity when we wish to open another account.

The link for this article located at ebcvg.com is no longer available.