Women are less than half as likely as men to have their identity stolen, according to a new study by Nationwide Building Society.
It found that just 11 per cent of women had had their identity stolen compared to nearly 23 per cent men.
The study found that women are much more likely to protect all their social media accounts with almost two thirds doing so compared to only half of men.
Concerns: More than two thirds of people worried about having identity stolen while almost one in five have been victims
Women are also far less likely to have friends or followers they’ve never met and less prone to exposing personal details in public.
The research also revelated more than two thirds of people fret about having their identity stolen and used fraudulently with around one in six people having actually been targeted.
Criminals can use a stolen identity to do a number of things. Of those who had their identity stolen, a third said it had been used to order goods in their name such as a mobile phone or car.
More than a quarter said it was used to access or steal money from their accounts, while one in five said it was used to borrow money in their name via a credit card or personal loan.
Losses from card ID theft increased 86 per cent in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, from £11.5million to £21.4million, according to UK Finance, while the number of individual cases more than doubled.
Card ID theft is when a criminal uses stolen or fake…
