Experian awarded Specified Anti-Fraud Organisation status

Experian has become the first private company to have been awarded Specified Anti-Fraud Organisation (SAFO) status by the UK Home Office under Section 68 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, which came into force 1st October 2008. The Act allows public authorities to share data for fraud prevention purpose via sharing schemes run by a SAFO solely for the purposes of detecting and preventing fraud. Fraudsters often target multiple organisations with their activities and the new scheme will help to bring that to light across both the public and private sectors. The Home Office estimates an annual saving of almost £300 million could be achieved through fraud prevention activities delivered by greater data sharing between the public and private sectors.

Tackling fraud head on

Nick Mothershaw, Director of Fraud and Identity Solutions, Experian, commented: "We are delighted to have been granted SAFO status which underlines our public sector and fraud capabilities. Experian can now use its fraud prevention expertise to help public sector organisations tackle fraud head on, protect taxpayers’ money and deliver significant savings to allow greater resources to be devoted to vital frontline services.” Data shared with Experian for fraud prevention is subject to strict controls and cannot be used for any other purposes.

Increased sharing

Fraud is a non-competitive issue and all sectors need to work together to combat it. Increased data sharing is imperative to allow those organisations being targeted to have the widest possible set of data to find patterns and links to prevent fraudulent applications, compromised accounts and breached data assets.

To find out more about the SAFO status see the Questions & Answers section.

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