Don't do a Jeremy - ID theft

Search: More on protection against identity theft

- Check your credit hasn't been tampered with
- Tips on avoiding identity theft

Humble pie is not Jeremy Clarkson's favourite dish - but he's eating it now, after dismissing the idea that identity fraudsters could use lost financial data covering 25 million recipients of child benefits to steal other people's identities.

A direct debit for £500 a month has been set up on his bank account, after he printed the account number and sort code in his column in the Sun - but whoever manipulated his personal information has a Robin Hood streak and has sent the multi-millionaire Top Gear presenter's money to the British Diabetic Association.

"I brought it on myself. I was wrong and I have been punished for my mistake," he now admits, having argued that anybody receiving a cheque and looking up the electoral roll could extract precisely the same data that was on the computer discs lost when Revenue and Customs consigned them to the post last year.

Clarkson now advocates "going after the idiot who lost the discs and sticking cocktail sticks in their eyes", but the professionals whose business it is to help us protect our identities have more practical suggestions...

Protecting yourself from the fraudsters

Most identity thieves will use your name and details to get cash, goods and services, so it's really important to check all your statements carefully.

The Home Office also recommends monitoring your credit report - the personal history of your credit, from cards to loans, mortgages and even utility and mobile phone accounts - for unfamiliar accounts and applications.

Other common sense precautions include:

• Never give personal data, such as your bank account details, to strangers or cold callers, in response to e-mails - and don't publish them in newspapers

• Shred sensitive documents before throwing them away

• Memorise PINs and passwords - never keep them with credit cards or bank account information and never share them

• Don't carry important documents, such as your passport or driving licence, unless you need them - thieves could use them to steal your identity