Companies, as well as individuals, are at risk from identity fraud and need to be vigilant about possible phishing attacks.

Phishing is a method used to fraudulently obtain information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by pretending to be from a reputable organisation.

ClickZ.com reports that 44 per cent of online banking customers use the same password for multiple online banking services, meaning that the risk is that much greater should the details be stolen.

Neil Munroe of Equifax said that anecdotal evidence suggests that phishing occurs in businesses of all sizes.

"There's no doubt that corporates, whether they be small businesses or large businesses, are suffering from attempted stealing of identity the same way that individuals are," he said.

"Phishing can apply to those corporates the same way that it can apply to individuals. Small business may get emails reported to be from their banks or the like requesting information to be supplied.

"One could argue that you'd probably be more open to doing that if you're running a small business trying to answer these things quickly than you would do in a larger business where you might have more governance."

Businesses concerned about phishing attacks should get IT support.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)