I am really surprised at this. I thought that the bank couldn't accepted the DD instruction without checking that an account holder had authorised it?
In my experience, financial fraud isn't a priority for the police - it's more complex and perhaps less exciting than chasing a robber or someone without a driving licence or insurance. You could argue that the risk to us is higher than with financial fraud.
That said, the Economist put organised criminal attack on the UK public sector at £9 billion per year, so we're all paying, we'll most of us are!
I found out the other day that criminals pay much more for the credentials of a well used twitter account than a National Insurance number - I heard up to £300 instead of £20.
Aricus
