London Identity Theft Hotspot London is the UK’s identity theft hot spot, with a quarter of all identity theft cases taking place in the capital last year. Londoners are also twice as likely to become victims of this crime than in the average UK region, reveals CreditExpert from Experian. More than one in five identity theft cases took place in the South East and the North West is identified to be the UK’s third identity theft hot spot, with one in ten victims living in the region. Residents in these regions are also more likely to be victims of identity theft than in any other region of the UK. Consumers are safest in Northern Ireland, where just 1% of all identity theft cases took place, just over a third of the UK regional average. The South West and Scotland are also the second and third safest spots in the UK. Shoppers nationwide should be on their guard as CreditExpert's research shows that no part of the country is safe. Consumers are also warned that identity thieves may come in a variety of guises. They may raid your dustbin to steal the personal information you throw away or they may trap you into giving your details on the internet or on the phone; with online shopping increasing by 78% in the last year it’s never been more important to protect your identity when shopping on the Internet. Jill Stevens, director of consumer affairs at Experian, comments: “Although the end loser is usually the defrauded bank, without help it can take you up to 400 hours to unravel the muddle left by a fraudster who has used your good credit history. And all the time his debts are on your record you probably won’t be able to get credit yourself. As the average spend by an identity thief is £1,000 per account, it really is worth making sure this doesn’t happen to youâ€� . Identity fraud is one of the UK’s fastest growing crimes, rising by 29% between April 2003 and April 2004, affecting 100,000 people in the last year and costing the UK £1.3 billion each year. Most alarmingly, it takes, on average, 18 months for victims of identity fraud to realise that they have been targeted . Click here for a free 30-day trial and a free copy of your credit report