The volume of illegally traded personal information online is soaring, with more than 110 million pieces of data bought and sold by criminals so far in 2014.

The figures from Experian, collated using web monitoring technology, showed an increase of 40 per cent from last year and 300 per cent on the total amount of stolen data traded in 2012.

The stats revealed that 96.5 per cent of illegally traded data consisted of login credentials. Username and password combinations to online accounts gave identity fraudsters access to huge amounts of data, such as banking, payment and shopping details, said Experian.

Compromised email accounts also contained personal contact lists that in turn could be targeted by these fraudsters, the researchers added.

But Brits are becoming more web-savvy, according to a separate survey conducted by Experian. More people are now closing down online accounts they no longer use, leaving less opportunity for cyber criminals to exploit their online identity.

Only 10 per cent have inactive e-mail accounts, down from 18 per cent in 2012, while 18 per cent have left inactive social media accounts open, down from 26 per cent. The average Briton now has 19 different online accounts (27 per cent lower than 2012), with 25-34 year olds the most prolific at 28 accounts each (30 per cent lower than 2012).

However, there was room for better security practice, with one in 20 people still using the same login details for all of their online accounts, and one in 10 never changing any of their passwords.

Peter Turner, managing director for Experian Consumer Services, UK & Ireland, described the current record level of illegal data trading as “startling”.

“Given the number of online services that we all use each and every day, it is so important that we are all vigilant in protecting our information online,” he said.

“While this may seem like a mammoth task, know that companies are using ever more sophisticated technologies to detect and prevent fraud, and if we all implement even the basics of online identity protection we will together make it far more difficult for online criminals to succeed.”

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