A new poll has revealed that 30% of UK professionals have fallen victim to identity fraud over the last three years.

According to the research, conducted by the Credit Show, identity theft is very much on the up and isn’t helped by the advent of new technology and increasing usage of the Internet. One in five of the survey’s respondents claimed their computer records had been stolen by criminals wanting to forge their identity.

As if dealing with the inconvenience of having your identity stolen isn’t bad enough, the financial impact can be profound. The research showed that 20% of victims either lost between £500 and £1000 or were spending this amount to correct the ID theft.

The outlook isn’t too rosy either: 60% of consumers believe that incidences of ID theft are likely to continue to increase and 40% say they are unsure of how to protect themselves against cyber criminals looking to perpetrate such attacks.

© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008