CIFAS - The UK's Fraud Prevention Service is delighted to announce that it has been awarded Specified Anti-Fraud Organisation (SAFO) status by the Home Office, under Section 68 of the Serious Crime Act 2007 - which will come into force on 1 October 2008.

This is a huge step forward and now provides public sector bodies with the power to share fraud data as a member of a specified anti-fraud organisation, for the purposes of preventing fraud.

Peter Hurst, CIFAS Chief Executive, comments: "We are delighted to be awarded SAFO status by the Home Office. This is a historic development which will usher in a new era in data-sharing, better enabling both the public and private sectors to benefit from the information on identified fraudsters that each legitimately holds.

"CIFAS can now, and will, actively pursue public sector bodies with a view to them becoming Members, thus making the UK an even more hostile environment for fraudsters."

Notes For Editors

1. CIFAS is the UK's Fraud Prevention Service with over 270 Member organisations spread across banking, credit cards, asset finance, retail credit, mail order, insurance, investment management, telecommunications, factoring and share dealing.  Members share information on frauds in the fight to prevent further fraud.  CIFAS is unique and was the first data sharing scheme of its type in the world.  Other schemes modelled on CIFAS have been set up in Southern Africa and Germany.

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