Identity fraud costs £1.2bn a year

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The estimate, which is the equivalent of £25 for every adult, was produced by the Identity Fraud Steering Committee (IFSC), set up in 2003 to identify effective measures to tackle identity fraud.

Public and private sector organisations sit on the committee, including HM Revenue and Customs, the Financial Services Authority and the British Bankers' Association.

The latest figures take into account costs incurred setting up systems to prevent and prosecute fraudsters, as well as the financial loss to organisations.

The sectors hit hardest include the telecommunications industry, with £485 million worth of fraudulently obtained mobile phones, premium rate services and long distance calls.

The financial sector lost £201 million from account takeovers and fraudulent third party applications. £1.2 billion represents a significant drop from the figure of £1.7 billion published by the IFSC in 2006.

However, the new methodology means the totals for money laundering, £395 million, and 'carousel' fraud, £215 million, were not included in the new amount.

A report released earlier this week by the All Party Group on ID cards found that fraudsters are finding it more difficult to use fake identities to open accounts and take out loans because of bank belt-tightening. They are now having to target real people instead of using identities.

The Group also warned that the 2012 Olympics will present a golden opportunity for ID fraud due to the number of foreign visitors using credit and bank cards without chip and pin technology.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government is committed to tackling the harm caused by identity fraud, which causes distress and harm to individuals and their families when identities are stolen by criminals to facilitate fraud."