Online fraud rises

Fraudsters traded 12 million pieces of personal information online between January and April this year, according to research.

The figure represents a threefold increase on 2010.

Credit-checking company Experian, which produced the figures, said the increase was partly due to consumers having a growing number of online accounts.

Consumers now have an average of 26 separate online logins but just five different passwords.

Experian said many people were unaware their identity had been stolen until they were refused credit cards or mobile phone contracts.

It advised people to change their passwords regularly and make them more complicated so they are harder for fraudsters to crack.

Two thirds of people have accounts they no longer use but have not closed down, leaving them vulnerable, the research found.

Those who had been victims of the growing issue of identity fraud suffered:

• Refusal of loans or credit cards (14%)
• Debts being run up in their name (9%)
• Refusal of mobile phone contracts (7%)
• Bbeing chased by debt collectors for money they did not owe (7%)