A quarter of UK adults have had their identity stolen or know someone who has fallen victim to ID fraud, a Which? magazine survey has suggested.
Nevertheless, only one in three people said they shredded bills or used different passwords for every account.
The survey of 975 people found seven out of 10 favoured compulsory ID cards as a way to fight fraud.
ID fraud is one of the UK's fastest-growing crimes, with criminals netting an estimated £1.3bn last year.
ID thieves use the information to access bank accounts, run up bills, take out fraudulent loans, launder money and carry out benefit fraud.
Q&A: Protecting your identity
Fraudsters use a host of methods to steal peoples' identities.
Methods range from the high-tech, such as sending emails containing viruses that access information on peoples' computers to rooting around in refuse to find old till receipts and bank statements.
Which? advises consumers to take care in how they dispose of their personal documents, guard their passwords and to check their bank accounts and credit files regularly.
Easy theft
To highlight how easy it can be to steal a person's ID, Which? researchers decided to try to steal the identity of a volunteer.
By accessing public documents and posing as the volunteer, the researcher managed to get hold of the volunteer's birth certificate, mother's maiden name, place of birth, mortgage details and even how often they went to the gym.
How to avoid ID theft Do not use your mother's maiden name or place of birth as a security password
Check your credit record annually
If you move, make sure you let your bank know
Shred or rip-up post before throwing it in the bin
Never use the same password for all your accounts
Do not carry address details in your wallet
Source: Which?
How to beat the ID thieves An attempt to access the volunteer's credit card account failed but only because the volunteer had not told his bank that he had recently changed address.
Which? editor Malcolm Coles called on banks and institutions to take greater care with peoples' details.
"Even a simple step taken by industry to stop accepting mother's maiden name and place of birth as default passwords would be a good start," Mr Coles said.
"It's too easy for fraudsters to get hold of this basic information, which is where the process of stealing an identity begins."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4311693.stm
Topic: One in four 'touched' by ID fraud (Read 735 times)