Bristol is among the the top cities in the UK in which people are likely to have had their identities stolen.
A huge portion of people have either lost or had their identity or personal information stolen, including as a result of a company breach.
As many as 24 per cent of those surveyed in Bristol have been a victim of identity theft, while a third of people in the city have a family member or friend who has been targeted.
Some of those were directly affected by a company data security breach.
That places Bristol sixth in the list of cities outside London where people are most likely to fall victim to the crime, behind Leeds (37%), Southampton and Edinburgh (32%), Newcastle (30%) and Liverpool (27%).
The worrying statistic is part of a study commissioned by privacy protection specialists LegalShield, which surveyed more than one thousand people about their main concerns relating to on and offline security.
The top concerns for Bristolians were their computers being hacked or infected (84%), bank accounts being hacked (83%) and online passwords and smartphones being hacked or stolen (both 82%).
Eighty-five per cent thought individuals and companies should be the most responsible for protecting their own data, followed by banks (81%) and Internet providers (70%).
Identity theft and privacy breach are huge issues for consumers worldwide, with 175,000 identity fraud cases last year in the UK alone.
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Mike Roberts, managing director at LegalShield, said: “Fraudsters are getting increasingly smart turning their attention towards exploiting more accessible products such as mobile phone contracts, online retail accounts, retail credit loans and short-term loans.
“The general public in Bristol need to be conscious of this growing trend and take action to protect themselves otherwise they could find themselves out of pocket or being accused of a crime they did not commit due to their identity being stolen.”
