'Identity theft hits 9% of Britons'

Nearly one in 10 Britons claim they have been the victim of identity fraud, a survey has revealed.

It found that people under 30 are most vulnerable to the crime because they are the most unaware when it comes to protecting their personal information.

Nearly a third (28%) had no idea a utility bill could be used to steal their identity while 66% had willingly given out personal details such as pin numbers or bank details to friends and family.

This compared to 40% of people aged 30 to 50 and 33% of over 50s.

The majority of the under 30s (81%) had no idea what their credit rating was and 59% did not know how to find out.

The poll, commissioned by electricity company npower and conducted by YouGov, questioned 2,200 adults.

It found that 9% of those quizzed believed they had been a victim of ID theft - the equivalent of six million people.

Professor Martin Gill, identity theft specialist and professor of criminology at Leicester University, said the number of ID thefts was far higher than the number reported.

According to CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, identity theft has risen from 20,000 reported cases in 1999 to 137,000 in 2005.

The survey found that many people's bills and letters went astray when they moved house.