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ID theft 'rife in the UK'

The identities of four million Brits are up for sale on the web, with many having been stolen by cybercriminals, it has been reported.

According to the Times, at least a quarter of a million British bank and credit card accounts have been hacked into by cybercriminals, with personal details having been procured through phishing scams, where people are tricked into handing over their key details.

Another common way to steal personal data is to send spam emails posing as a bank or online shop or to riddle someone's computer with viruses and then raid it, states the news provider, which adds that this private information is now available online to the highest bidder.

The newspaper adds that information being traded on the web is being intercepted by UK company Lucid Intelligence and compiled in a database which contains the records of 40 million people who have been the victims of cybercrime worldwide a could help people see what information about them has been taken.

Last week, research by Tiscali revealed that Brits are putting large amounts of personal information, such as job details, date of birth and email addresses on the web.

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