With consumers increasingly turning to the web> to buy presents for loved ones, experts say fraudsters are targeting shoppers.

Phil D'Angio at security firm VeriSign said: "This time of year presents a golden opportunity for criminals, who tap into the shopping frenzy to defraud their victims of money, their bank details and personal information, with no intention of delivering the goods that have been ordered."

In the first 10 months of this year, CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service recorded more than 68,000 victims of identity theft. This marks a surge of more than a third from the same period in 2008.

In addition, cases of account takeover, where a third party fraudulently gains control of a victim's account, have also increased by 18 per cent from the same time last year.

Almost one in four people are holding off doing any Christmas shopping online, due to fears over online identity theft and fraud, says a study by YouGov for VeriSign.

Verisign recommends making sure there is a way of contacting the company by looking for a phone number and mailing address, and testing the number.