Who Would Want to Steal the Identity of Brian Binley MP?

Brian Binley is the MP for Northampton South. Who on earth would want to steal his identity? Read on and be afraid. Very afraid...

"A Conservative MP has told how he returned from a trip abroad to find that an identity thief had tried to steal £9,000 from his bank account and divert Parliamentary mail to another address. The fraudster even wrote to Northampton South MP Brian Binley, bragging that he had managed to swindle copies of his bank statements. Mr Binley returned from a fact-finding trip to India to discover the address on his bank accounts had been changed, money had been transferred between accounts and his mail had been redirected to a house in Brockley, south London. He only noticed he had been a victim of identity theft at the weekend when he opened a letter dated January 2 from his bank to confirm his address change request. He has called for a review in bank and post office security to protect customers. "It is totally unbelievable," Mr Binley said. "If it can happen to me, an MP, then nobody's bank account is safe. "It is very, very concerning that somebody with this sort of dedication can achieve this sort of success. There is an arrogance about computer systems' security which these people use." Mr Binley said police had told him a known fraudster was under investigation for hacking into his details and had targeted other company directors in the past through Companies House details. A study last year found that a quarter of UK adults have had their identity stolen or know somebody who has been a victim of ID fraud. Identity fraud, one of the fastest-growing crimes in the UK, costs the country an estimated £1.3 billion a year. "

Note the sentence "If it can happen to me, an MP, then nobody's bank account is safe." Hmmm. A number of comments spring to mind, but they're possibly best left there. As a matter of fact I know of another Conservative MP who has had a similar experience. Joking apart, it is horrendous that this sort of thing can happen. I'm glad I got a shredder for Christmas...

Hat-tip to Ananova