A STRAPPING man wearing a pink tutu crashes to the floor in the latest TV advert highlighting the dangers of identity fraud.

The comedy promotion of one UK bank's free identity fraud support service shows a victim reading his credit card statements in growing disbelief and imagining himself dancing as he realises that someone has stolen his identity to buy ballet lessons.

But the reality of identity fraud is certainly no laughing matter.

It is already Britain's fastest-growing crime. Now, with around half the population at risk through the unprecedented government blunder which resulted in the loss of confidential data on 25 million child benefit claimants, rates could rise faster still.

Add to that the prospect of ID cards, and calls from pharmacists to access patients records, and it looks likely the chances of an even bigger bungle can only get higher.

It is not so much Big Brother is watching you as Big Brother is paying so little attention that he is accidentally passing your details on to fraudsters everywhere.

Embattled ministers have sought to reassure the public that although names, addresses and bank details have been lost, the information does not appear to have fallen into the "wrong" hands. And even if it did, it is not enough to enable conmen to access people's accounts so, they say, there is no need for a Northern Rock-style mass run on banks.

But some experts and opponents of the government's controversial ID card scheme disagree.

Owen Roberts, an identity theft expert at Callcredit credit report company, warned that although most shops require a utility bill, fakes are easy to obtain online.

He said: "There's nothing to stop someone walking into a mobile phone shop with a convincing-looking utility bill and other documents that match up and walk away with a brand new iPhone which he could then sell for a couple of hundred quid on eBay."

He also warned that the data would enable more sophisticated "phishing" scams by giving fraudsters the baseline information they need to call someone up, posing as a bank clerk, and obtain key passwords for bank accounts and other financial information.

"Once they have that, they have all the details they need to alter account information, get a car loan or take over credit cards," Mr Roberts added.

Anti-ID card campaign group, No2ID, was equally blunt. Scottish co-ordinator Geraint Bevan said: "This time it is bank account details and names and addresses. You can change your bank account, and although the government says there's no need for people to close their accounts, I think people should insist on getting a new account number.

"But if they go ahead with the ID cards the data will include fingerprints and iris scans and you can't change them. It's very, very dangerous."

While there is nothing the public can do to prevent officials from making mistakes, as seems to have happened in the current scandal, they can follow simple guidelines to protect themselves from further fallout.

Official advice to consumers includes not revealing personal or account details to anyone who contacts them unexpectedly. Banks will never contact a customer to ask for their personal identification number (PIN) or their full password or security number.

Customers should also check their bank and credit card statements regularly and report anything unfamiliar to the relevant financial institution immediately.

However, a new survey today reveals that the public are pretty poor at monitoring their own finances.

Only one in 10 Scots would notice immediately if £1000 went missing from their bank account and just one in five check their balance once a month.

The survey by mobile banking service Monilink, conducted before the current scandal, also showed only 13% worried about illegal withdrawals from their account despite the growing threat.

At the moment ID fraud victims have to take the lead in dealing with the problem, alerting banks and firms to the issue and spending vast amounts of time and money trying to reclaim their identity.

Credit report agencies charge the public to access their credit reports, which when damaged by ID fraud can jeopardise future genuine applications by the victim for loans, mortgages and credit cards.

That situation, combined with the ignorance and apathy thrown up by today's survey, has fuelled calls for the financial industry to shoulder the burden of monitoring the problem,as happens in other countries.

Trisha McAuley, of the Scottish Consumer Council, said: "When everything does go wrong it's basically left to consumers to pick up the pieces.

"In the US they have a one-stop shop support centre which deals with everything on victims' behalf, including helping them prove their identity and get their credit reports. We would like to see that introduced here."

But whether or not that happens, she too was clear that, with Big Brother showing no sign of going away, the problems are only going to get worse.

It was very stressful ... you wonder if it will ever stop'

"IT'S a nightmare scenario that you think only happens to other people but when you're in the middle of it you wonder if it will ever stop.

"It took two years of endless letters and even now there's still a doubt in the back of my mind that it might not be over."

One Scottish identity fraud victim yesterday spoke out about the reality of Britain's fastest-growing crime in the wake of the child benefits scandal.

The 61-year-old Edinburgh NHS manager has first-hand experience of the nightmare which millions of people are now at risk of thanks to the government blunder.

In his case the ID theft was probably linked to an opportunist thief who stole his wife's handbag from their locked car and used her bank card and driving licence to take over his identity and buy hundreds of pounds worth of goods in his name.

The victim, who does not want to be named, said: "We reported the theft to police and cancelled credit cards. We did not really lose any money so we weren't too concerned.

"But about six months later we started to get a trickle of different demands from various companies for things we knew nothing about.

"The conman had bought items on hire purchase and given a false address and once he did a runner the companies and debt collection agencies started coming to me. I got some very aggressive letters and once I think they threatened to send bailiffs. It was very stressful and I knew whenever I first wrote to a firm they wouldn't believe me."

His previously clean credit record was ruined, which saw him turned down for a credit card, and now seven years later, while it has been years since he has had any further problems, he still doesn't know for sure if the credit agencies' data on him now is accurate.