Interpol chief has identity stolen

Criminals have used the Facebook identity of Ron Noble, the head of Interpol, to try to set up an identity fraud in the hope of getting information on a major operation by the international police agency.

"Interpol's information security incident response team discovered two Facebook profiles attempting to assume my identity as Interpol's secretary general," Mr Noble admitted. "One of the impersonators was using this profile to obtain information on fugitives targeted during one of our recent operations."

Mr Noble said Operation Infra Red brought together investigators from 29 countries to target criminals on the run for crimes including murder, paedophilia, drug trafficking and money laundering. It led to more than 130 arrests, he revealed.

He did not say what actions, if any, were taken against the criminals who stole his identity.