Identity fraud costs South Africa billions

Fraud through improper use of identity documents went up by 29 percent last year, and cost South Africa an estimated 40-billion rands. This comes as government is finalising plans to introduce new smartcard identity cards. The Sunday Independent reports that The department of home affairs says the current ID book is easy to forge, as the photographs can easily be replaced. Pat Cunningham of South African Fraud Prevention Services says the organisation has a list of 45 thousand names on its database of people who had committed fraud by using identity documents that did not belong to them.