The recession has led to a surge in identity theft, which has increased by nearly a third since 2008, according to the latest report from Cifas.

The UK's Fraud Prevention Service's 2009 Fraud Trends report revealed that because banks and financial institutions are reluctant to lend, it is easier for criminals to hijack genuine accounts and drain these, and carry out other crimes by impersonating their victims.

Cifas said there were over 100,000 victims of ID fraud in the UK last year, with more than 24,000 victims of account takeover, when a criminal fraudulently uses another person’s credit or debt card account.

They do this by gathering information about the intended victim – via phishing scams where the victim is tricked into giving the fraudster personal information such as bank or card details and passwords.

The criminals contact the victim's bank or credit card issuer, masquerading as the account holder, and arrange for funds to be transferred out of the account, or change the address on the account and ask for new or replacement cards and statements to be sent to the new address.

Peter Hurst, chief executive of Cifas, said: "It is well-known that a rise in fraud goes hand in hand with a recession. Fraudsters adapt their methods in response to changes in the economy, finding and exploiting areas of weakness. "

Research from identity protection firm CPP mirrored Cifas’s findings.

CPP said it had found that account takeover regularly accounts for 40 per cent of all cases reported by customers of its fraud resolution service. Worryingly, 43 per cent of victims only became aware of the fraud when their bank contacted them.

Sarah Blaney, an identity fraud expert with CPP, said: “All a fraudster needs is a name, address and date of birth, so it’s vital that account holders look after their personal information and check their statements regularly.”

“These alarming figures show that fraudsters are still exploiting the economic climate to hijack their victims’ accounts to access cash and credit, and make fraudulent purchases in their names.

“We have seen a notable increase in account takeover, as criminals struggle to open up new fraudulent accounts and take the easier option by targeting existing ones."

"The proliferation of phishing e-mails, social engineering scams and malware are all designed to extract sensitive financial information from the cardholder in order to access the account and defraud the individual."