Credit cards, bank accounts and other financial products are all vulnerable to fraud - a fact which is causing widespread concern.
Credit card fears are becoming increasingly common among Britons, American Express has claimed.
According to the credit card provider, ID theft is the single biggest security concern of 43 percent of Britons. This means that fears of credit card, banking and other forms of data fraud have overtaken those of street crime (41 percent) and of being mugged in the street (32 percent).
The research comes in the same week that the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas - which could now be exploited by ID fraudsters - was reported in Manchester. Several other high-profile data losses have also occurred in government departments and agencies funded by public money.
Most notably, the head of tax body HM Revenue & Customs was forced to resign late last year after the personal details of 25 million Britons were lost in the post by couriers.
Chris Rolland at American Express commented: "In recent months ID theft has become a far bigger issue and Brits are increasingly feeling more vulnerable to its effects."
He added: "As fast-paced working life leads more people to rely on technology in the way they manage their lives, so the safety landscape is changing, leaving more Britons exposed to ID theft."
