UK 'a nation of cheats and fraudsters'

The UK is riddled with low-level fraud and deception, according to research out this week, but one expert has gone so far as to claim acts that might be considered of little consequence signify a genuine threat to national security.

It seems nearly half of us are guilty of some form of forgery while 10 per cent of us have committed low-level identity fraud.

It seems nearly half of us are guilty of some form of forgery while 10 per cent of us have committed low-level identity fraud, such as using somebody else's identity to access systems or services.

Many offenders might argue that their actions are far from criminal but rather a necessary or at least pragmatic 'workaround'. For example, 35 per cent of respondents said they would think nothing of using somebody else's ID or pass card to access their office if they had forgotten their own.

However, Danny Chapchal, chairman of authentication and document integrity firm TSSI Systems, who commissioned the research, even expressed concerns that such trends pose a threat to national security.

Chapchal said in a statement: "Despite Britain's terror alert, irresponsible identity abuse is making it harder to tackle this threat."

However, critics of the over-hyping of the terror threat would suggest such an argument overstates the threat. But the findings do paint a picture which will at least raise eyebrows among compliance officers, IT managers and HR departments.

The research also found that 12 per cent of respondents have sent emails in the workplace purporting to be from somebody else.

Earlier this week silicon.com revealed that debt is the greatest factor in turning previously honest, hard-working staff into criminals.