Many victims see their bank accounts become fraudsters’ direct targets, with account takeover cases up by 24 per cent in the first three months of 2007, the statistics showed.

Meanwhile, fraudulent credit card applications submitted in the name of another person remained consistent at 35 per cent of all cases through early 2007.

A single identity fraudster will defraud six companies on average while up to 40 companies can become enmeshed in the fraud, lending money, releasing cash, or selling goods to the impostor believing them to be a genuine customer, CPP found.

But being aware of the full range of ways in which they can be targeted helps consumers remember to check all the relevant places for fraud liability, CPP’s identity theft expert Danny Harris stressed.

Meanwhile, recent research from InsureandGo suggested that consumers may be at increased risk while abroad, with figures showing that the number of people suffering from card fraud while overseas doubled in the last year.

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