Keir Starmer warned digital ID scheme could become 'goldmine for scammers to steal your money'

The Prime Minister revealed on September 26 that the mandatory digital ID would be essential for proving the "right to work" in the UK.

He claimed that introducing digital IDs would tackle illegal employment and provide "countless benefits" to Britons.

The documents, which GB News has been told will not be called BritCards, draws inspiration from Estonia's two-decade-old digital identity programme, which allows its 1.4 million citizens to access government services, vote, and conduct banking through electronic cards.

However, Estonia's system has experienced significant security failures, with fraudsters successfully stealing millions of euros from citizens through sophisticated scams and data breaches.

Estonian authorities recorded 837 major fraud incidents last year, with citizens losing over €7million to criminals exploiting the digital ID system, according to official figures revealed by the Daily Mail.

The losses have escalated dramatically, with €7.5million stolen in just the first half of this year alone, though experts believe the actual figures are significantly higher due to unreported cases.

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Criminals have developed increasingly sophisticated methods to circumvent the system's encryption, primarily through phishing schemes that trick users into revealing their pin codes.

The fraudsters then gain access to victims' bank accounts, with many cases involving fake communications from supposed government officials or banking representatives who convince citizens to disclose their security credentials.

In a recent incident, a 73-year-old woman from Põlva County, Estonia, lost €30,000 after fraudsters posing as electricity officials and bank staff convinced her to share her ID-card pin, the Daily Mail reports.

Another case involved a woman from Ida-Viru County who allegedly disclosed her pin's during fake calls from Estonia's Rescue Board and her bank's security department, leading to a €6,000 loan being fraudulently obtained.

These schemes typically involve convincing Estonian-speaking callers and professionally written emails without spelling errors, making detection difficult.

Security experts warn that Britain's proposed digital ID database would become an irresistible target for cybercriminals and extortion groups seeking to exploit citizens' personal information.

Duncan McCann from Good Law Project said the centralised system would be a "highly valued prize" for hackers, predicting it was "only a matter of time" before such data appeared on the dark web.

"It is impossible to make a 100 per cent secure system," Mr McCann explained, adding that aggregating everyone's personal details, employment rights, and photographs creates an exceptionally valuable dataset for fraudsters.

The constant access required by employers to verify workers' rights would create numerous entry points for potential attackers, he warned.

Despite Government claims about tackling illegal immigration, experts question whether digital IDs would achieve this goal, as many irregular migrants arrive seeking welfare benefits rather than employment.

Reform UK has dismissed the prime Minister's proposals, suggesting the public recognises that Sir Keir is "continuing the Tory legacy of high taxes and mass immigration".

More than 2.8 million people have a signed a petition against the proposed digital ID scheme.

In a response issued on October 2, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: "The new system will be designed in accordance with the highest security standards to protect against a comprehensive range of threats, including cyber-attacks.

"We will launch a public consultation in the coming weeks and work closely with employers, trade unions, civil society groups and other stakeholders, to co-design the scheme and ensure it is as secure and inclusive as possible.

"Following consultation, we will seek to bring forward legislation to underpin this system."

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