Online ID fraud advice from security industry

Accessible via www.preventidfraud.org.uk, it offers advice, facts and figures, case studies and a number of downloadable booklets.

Anthony Pearlgood, chairman of the BSIA's information destruction section, said: "Identity fraud is an increasingly serious problem for UK businesses, with the crime costing the UK economy £1.7 billion.

"The new website provides essential advice on how to protect your business and its customers from identity fraud. It covers ways of preventing your mail getting into the wrong hands, IT security issues, how to protect your company's details at Companies House and the importance of using a professional information destruction company which complies with British Standards to dispose of your confidential waste.

"By following these basic guidelines, you will go a long way to ensuring both that you comply with the Data Protection Act and that identity fraudsters cannot access and misappropriate your confidential data."