National Identity Fraud Prevention Week launches today, raising awareness of the threat of identity fraud at home, and at work. Although 95% of UK citizens now understand the risks, many are still careless both on and offline, according to the latest research.

The campaign, organised by a cross-sector alliance, released the results of a survey showing that 4m people, some 7% of the UK population, have been victims of “identity fraud”, at an average cost to each person of £1,190.

“The number of victims is still rising as people continue to be careless with their identities,” the report claims. According to CIFAS, the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service, more than 80,000 cases have been reported in the UK so far this year.

Citizens appear especially vulnerable to phishing exploits and are also unaware of the risks of social networking sites – just 57% verify emails or calls from organisations before responding, while 88% of those using social networking sites admit sharing information such as their address or date of birth. Just 18% of those interviewed said they were concerned about the security risks of social networking sites.

Campaign organisers are urging businesses to make extra efforts this week to educate staff about the risks to themselves as individuals and the organisations they work for, and have made resources available to help get the messages across.