Credit Card Firm Finds ID Theft Fears

ID theft is currently the biggest single crime fear among Britons, American Express claimed today.

New analysis from the firm shows that 43 percent of people are concerned about the fraud, which can be perpetrated through techniques such as credit card cloning and email phishing. Among small business owners, this figure went up to 51 percent.

By way of comparison, street crime was only mentioned as of concern by 41 percent of all people asked. Fear of alcohol-related crime has dropped markedly since American Express took the same survey 12 months ago, falling from 35 percent to 25 percent.

Elsewhere, burglaries was found to be of biggest concern among Londoners and residents of the north west (with 37 percent citing it as a worry). Just over one in four also said that they were also worried about someone causing criminal damage to their car.

Chris Rolland at American Express commented: "As fast-paced working life drives more people to rely on technology in the way they manage their lives, so the safety landscape is changing and ID theft is becoming a bigger issue year on year."

American Express interviewed 2,000 UK residents over the course of its research.