As the festive shopping period hits top speed, the dangers of the season are ones no consumer can afford to ignore.

In the first ten months of this year, the 260 plus Members of CIFAS - the UK's Fraud Prevention Service have recorded over 68,000 victims of impersonation (those people whose identities have been hijacked by identity fraudsters). This represents a surge of almost 37% from the same period in 2008.

In addition, cases of Facility Takeover Fraud (also known as account takeover - where a third party fraudulently gains control of a victim's account), have also increased: by 18% from the same period in 2008.

These worrying trends have previously been highlighted by CIFAS, in its report The Anonymous Attacker. These figures also go some way to explain the results of a recent YouGov survey commissioned by VeriSign - the trusted provider of internet infrastructure services - which found that almost one in four (22%) Britons are being held back from doing any Christmas shopping online, due to fears over online ID theft and fraud.

CIFAS Communications Manager, Richard Hurley, comments: "The festive season traditionally reminds us of the high street threats of thieves and pickpockets stealing our wallets. We must, however, protect ourselves equally from their latter-day counterparts who target our identities. The safety tips used throughout the year to protect our identities are even more crucial now, in order to ensure that the holiday period can be enjoyed without the fear that fraudsters are helping themselves to your identity and finances."

Notes to Editors:

1. CIFAS is the UK's Fraud Prevention Service with over 260 Member organisations spread across banking, credit cards, asset finance, retail credit, mail order, insurance, investment management, telecommunications, factoring and share dealing.  Members share information on identified frauds in the fight to prevent further fraud.  CIFAS is unique and was the first data sharing scheme of its type in the world.  Other schemes modelled on CIFAS have been set up in Southern Africa and Germany.

2.   The table below shows the number of victims of impersonation and cases of facility takeover fraud recorded by CIFAS Members during the first ten months of 2009, and the same period of 2008.

3.  The Anonymous Attacker: a Special Report into identity fraud and account takeover fraud was published on 12 October and contains a wide range of statistics, analysis and tips on how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim to identity thieves and online fraudsters.

4.  The online survey was commissioned by VeriSign and conducted by YouGov from 23 to 26 October. 2,092 UK adults (aged 18+) were polled in the sample.