IT'S one of the fastest growing crimes in the country.

Hundreds of thousands has been spent on TV adverts in a bid to alert people to its seriousness - because you can become a victim without evening knowing it.

Government agencies say identity theft costs the United Kingdom £1.3 billion a year, creating personal misery as well as huge expense and inconvenience.

The UK Passport Agency estimates it can take some victims up to 300 hours to put their records and lives straight.

It occurs when your personal information is used by someone else without your knowledge - and more than 100,000 people are affected every year.

Thieves gather as many personal details about you as possible: date of birth, proof of address, bank account numbers and then fraudulently apply for credit cards, bank accounts, loans and even passports.

They can strike online by fooling you into divulging your details on computers, or they can even raid your bins and intercept your mail.

As many as one in ten people nationally have fallen victim to identity theft, with national figures revealing that Yorkshire and Humber ranks fifth in the UK's identity theft hotspots.

You may be a victim of identity theft if:

You apply for a financial service, believe you have a good credit history and are told you have been declined because you have defaulted on a loan you know nothing about

You identify entries on your personal credit file from organisations you do not normally deal with

Financial institutions that you do not normally deal with contact you to chase an outstanding debt

Mail that you normally expect from a financial institution does not arrive when expected

You have lost or had stolen important documents such as your passport or driving licence

You apply for a welfare benefit and are told you are already claiming, when you are not

If any of these apply to you, or you believe that you are a victim of identity theft, act quickly. The problems will be harder to solve the longer it goes on. Contact the police and financial institutions.

Updated: 09:41 Saturday, April 09, 2005