ID fraud hits the rich and famous

What links pop singer Lily Allen, comedians Ricky Gervais and Harry Hill and a clutch of top-flight football players? The answer is identity fraud. They have all either lost serious amounts of money after being impersonated by criminals or come within a whisker of doing so.

As we enter Identity Fraud Week, we look at the celebrities who have been caught out by fraudsters and tell you what action you can take to stop the same thing happening to you.

Motormouth presenter Jeremy Clarkson was forced to concede he was wrong about the dangers of identity fraud after falling victim to an internet scam himself. The Top Gear presenter printed his own bank details in a newspaper, telling readers that his money was safe and that all the furore over the disappearance last year of 7 million banking details was just hype. But an unidentified reader copied his details to set up a £500 direct debit payable from his account to the British Diabetic Association, showing just how easy it is to be defrauded.

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