People in Shropshire were today warned to protect their personal information to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

West Mercia Police chiefs today said fraud and identity theft was one of the fastest growing areas of crime. Police bosses said the nature of modern technology and communications meant that people could fall victim to criminals in the UK and in other parts of the world.

Chris Ammonds, spokesman for Telford police, said: “Your identity and personal information are valuable to criminals.

“If they can find out your details, they can use your name to open bank accounts, get credit cards and loans or apply for state benefits and documents such as passports and driving licences.

“If your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out and you could also find yourself liable for financial losses caused by criminals using your identity.”

He warned the key documents criminals were interested in to steal someone’s identity was their passport, driving licence, bank account details including cheque books, debit cards, receipts and statements and credit card details including statements and receipts.

Mr Ammonds added: “Other information can also be useful to criminals, such as dates of birth, home addresses and even the names of your next of kin.

“Much of this information is routinely posted by people on the internet – either during transactions with retailers or through social networking sites. It pays to think carefully about what you want to disclose online.”

He warned the most common ways for criminals to target people was through online information – such as transactions made through disreputable retailers or through computer viruses; bin raiding where criminals sift through rubbish to find personal details and through intercepting mail.

The latest scam of “phishing” sees criminal gangs sending random e-mails which claim to be from a genuine company including banks or credit card provider.

Criminals also telephone victims claiming to be from their bank and asking for them to update their personal information, while some clone credit cards with a special device when the victim uses it in a shop.

Anybody who thinks they may have been a victim of fraud should report it to actionfraud.org.uk who will pass it on to the local police force to investigate.

By Crime Correspondent Kirsty Smallman