According to an online safety group, complete financial identities, including names, addresses, passport numbers and confidential data such as credit card numbers, are being sold online for 80 GB pounds for a bundled package, and as little as 5 GB pounds for a single piece of data.

The Get Safe Online group, backed by police, government and banks, says ID theft is a serious problem because of an international trade in stolen identities and data. The bundles of data are harvested in concerted attacks against poorly defended computers in wealthier nations and are often sited in countries with lax controls against electronic crime. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

The Get Safe Online group estimates that nearly half of all computers users in the UK are vulnerable because they're not using defensive measures such as a firewall and other up-to-date software that can identify and stop malicious programs on their computers. Using the same password for key websites also makes it easier for sensitive data to be breached.

Investing a relatively small amount of time and money to ensure you are fully protected makes the risk of financial loss almost negligible. Being a victim of identity theft can have an impact on your ability to obtain credit or borrow money in the future.

Tips for preventing identity theft and what to do if you become a victim of identity theft can be found from the Consumer Action Website, the Federal Trade Commission, The Yorkshire Evening Post, Metro.co.uk and Consumerdeals.co.uk. (Source: consumeraction.gov, ftc.gov, yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, metro.co.uk and consumerdeals.co.uk)

Visit Bill's Links and More for more great tips, just like this one!