Basingstoke has been highlighted as one of the identity fraud capitals of the UK.
The town has seen a 281 per cent increase in reported cases of ID fraud.
Across the UK, the cases of fraud surged 11 per cent in 2010 from the year before and there are warnings that criminals are getting increasingly advanced.
In Basingstoke, there were 31 reports of ID theft in Basingstoke in 2009, but in 2010 this skyrocketed to 118.
A report published earlier this month by global information services company Experian said criminals are targeting banks accounts to carry out credit card and loan fraud.
Across the country, the company estimates that for every 10,000 credit card applications, 19 are the work of tricksters.
Peter Turner, managing director at Experian, said: “The research shows fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated and therefore more menacing than ever before.
“It is important to have proper safeguards in place to protect your identity such as ensuring that you keep your pins and passwords private, properly checking your bank statements and taking care when sharing personal details online.”
The company suggests that ID fraud is becoming more prolific as people reveal personal details on social networking sites.
Details such as date of birth, age, mother’s maiden names and pet names are sometimes published on sites like Facebook.
Chris Sumner, 39, from Chineham, set up the Online Privacy Foundation last year to help raise awareness of how much people give away online.
The senior IT security manager for Hewlett Packard said the results did not surprise him.
He said: “It is getting quite a bit easier to do this kind of thing. More people are using stuff online and the amount of people using Facebook is going up by thousands as more people flock to the internet.”
Last year Mr Sumner appeared on Daybreak where he was given a reporter’s name. With that he was able to find out his birthday and parents name, and able to order a copy of his birth certificate.
He said: “Once you have that information, it’s a lot easier to do more dangerous stuff. There is a sophisticated network of people out there.”
He said residents can make it harder for scammers by ensuring their online information remains hidden, and all paper is shredded when thrown out.
The report showed that seven of the top 10 fraud hotspots are in London, with Woolwich topping the list.
Basingstoke came in at number 11, with Reading and Newbury also showing rises in the number of cases.
