If you go back just 10 years ago, it was very difficult for consumers to apply successfully for credit products such as loans, mortgages and new credit cards, as lenders themselves did not have access to a lot of capital and so were very choosy about who they would lend to.  However things changed from around 2003 onwards when lenders were suddenly able to access a lot more money themselves at very low rates, which they could then in turn lend to consumers for a huge profit, and this led to a sudden ‘lending spree’ where almost anyone could apply for a credit product, especially credit cards, regardless of their consumer credit history and credit score.
 
Lenders were so keen to take advantage of the huge profits to be made on lending the money that had themselves borrowed very competitively, that they were not as discriminating as they should be when looking at applications, and a vast number of fraudulent applications were processed without any kind of supplementary checks being carried out on whether the identity of the applicants was genuine.
 
These days lenders are once again reigning back on the amount of credit products they are offering, and many of the leading companies have put much more secure measures in place for dealing with fraudulent applications, with dedicated identity fraud teams and in depth training for front line staff.
 
Therefore although there are many reasons why identity theft (preventable through using an identity theft service) has increased in the last 5 years, it can be said that lenders contributed significantly to the problem by lending money too freely and not taking steps to monitor and deal with fraudulent applications.

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